New Zealand: The Experiences of Māori Teachers as an Ethnic Minority in English-Medium Schools

Abstract

This chapter discusses the experiences of Māori teachers who are currently or were previously employed in English-medium schools and early childhood centers in New Zealand. The New Zealand education system has a long history of failing to meet the educational needs of Māori students, and the demand for teachers to improve students’ academic outcomes has increased. Māori teachers connect and engage more readily with Māori students due to their shared culture and background. In contrast, many Pākehā/New Zealand European teachers have a limited understanding of Māori language, knowledge systems, values, and customs, and often hold low expectations for Māori student achievement. Findings from our study revealed that Māori teachers carried a substantial cultural and pastoral workload. On average, teachers reported spending at least 5½ hours per week working with Māori students and their whānau (family) in addition to their full-time teaching responsibilities. Although most teachers were acknowledged for their contributions through additional remuneration or time-release, others received no recognition. Participants were committed to their students but often worked in unwelcoming and unsupportive Eurocentric environments. Teachers were also disheartened by the general lack of commitment of their non-Māori colleagues to Māori language, culture, and values, yet were expected to guide, support, and educate these colleagues on how to meet their obligations to Māori students. The chapter concludes with suggestions for how school principals, center managers, and other teachers, could better support Māori teachers so that they continue making valuable contributions to their students’ education and remain employed in the teaching profession.

Introduction

Māori teachers occupy a unique place in New Zealand English-medium schools and centers. Although Māori comprise 16.5% of the New Zealand population, only 10% of teachers are Māori compared with 73% of Pākehā (NZ European) and 10% of teachers of other ethnicities (Education Counts, 2020). The English-medium system, where most Māori teachers work, has failed generations of Māori students and their families (Controller Auditor-General, 2016; Ministry of Education, 2012b, 2013b). Any enactment of Māori language and culture in English-medium settings occurs within the structural and cultural constraints of Pākehā-dominated, Eurocentric organizations.

The low number of Māori teachers employed in English-medium schools and centers means that many are culturally isolated, with no other Māori colleagues for support. Individual Māori teachers are commonly assigned responsibility for all Māori-related matters. These include cultural and pastoral leadership, kapa haka (Māori performing arts), rituals such as pōwhiri (traditional welcoming ceremony), and supporting non-Māori colleagues with Māori students and curriculum queries (Whitehead et al., 2000). Māori teachers’ extra responsibilities are often in addition to a full teaching load, and may lack any time allowance or further remuneration (Torepe et al., 2018; Torepe & Manning, 2018). For many Māori teachers, the heavy workload has led to job dissatisfaction and attrition (Mitchell & Mitchell, 1993). Therefore, it is crucial that more teachers are recruited to boost the Māori teaching population, and that those currently employed are appropriately supported to remain in the profession.

Research Objective

This qualitative research study aimed to provide insights into the experiences of Māori teachers who were currently (or previously) employed in English-medium early childhood education centers, primary (elementary) schools, or secondary (high) schools in New Zealand. The study also sought to identify the personal benefits and challenges of being a Māori teacher and the extra contributions they made to their students and school community. Teachers with previous English-medium experience were included to uncover the reasons why Māori teachers might leave the profession or change to a different sector (e.g., Māori-medium education). It is also important to investigate how school leaders could better support and acknowledge Māori teachers’ contributions, retain current teachers, and attract more Māori teachers to the profession.

The research questions guiding this study were:

• 1. What are the benefits and challenges for Māori teachers working in an English-medium school or center?

• 2. What changes need to be made within schools/centers and in education more broadly, to attract and retain Māori teachers within the profession?

The New Zealand Context

New Zealand is an island nation of five million people, situated in the South Pacific. Australia and the Pacific Islands of Fiji, Tonga, and New Caledonia are its closest neighbours. Māori people are Indigenous to New Zealand, but following British settlement in the early 1800s, their culture has been systematically marginalized through colonization and assimilatory educational policies.

Since European-style schooling began in 1816, the New Zealand education system has primarily reflected the language, beliefs, and values of the dominant Pākehā ethnic group while actively discouraging Māori language, ideas, and knowledge. Historically, the purpose of schooling for Māori until the mid-twentieth century was to educate students for manual labour and the low-skilled workforce. Māori were not perceived by Pākehā to be capable of further education or professional occupations.

Māori Teachers

The numbers of Māori teachers employed in New Zealand has historically been low. In Native Schools (rural schools in Māori communities that operated between 1867 and 1969), teachers were initially Pākehā (and not always qualified). Local Māori who had 1–2 years of high school education were employed as junior teaching assistants. In the mid-1900s, it became challenging to recruit Pākehā beginning teachers as they were reluctant to be posted to Native schools. Consequently, principals recommended that suitably qualified Māori assistants be trained as teachers. The government introduced a Māori quota system, and in 1940, the first four Māori students entered teacher training (Calman, 2012; Fletcher, 1948; Walker, 2016). Following World War II, teacher shortages led the government to increase the Māori quota from the initial four teachers to approximately 60 teachers per year (Walker, 2016). According to Walker (2016):

These teachers constituted the second wave of graduates and intellectuals who engaged in the praxis of liberating Māori from educational subjection. Their objective was to carefully incorporate elements of Māori culture (including art and songs) into their classrooms while avoiding a Pākehā backlash (p. 28).

Māori boarding schools, one of the few options for Māori students to obtain a high school education, also supported the entry of Māori teachers into the profession. Some students stayed on at school until they had qualified as teachers and later were employed at the boarding schools they had attended as students. Old Girls’ Association scholarships also supported the training of further Māori teachers (Jenkins & Morris Matthews, 1998).

Māori-driven educational initiatives such as Te Kōhanga Reo (Māori-medium language nests/preschools), Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori-medium elementary schools), and wharekura (Māori-medium high schools) were instituted in the 1980s to support the revitalization of te reo Māori (Māori language) and increase the numbers of Māori language speakers (Tocker, 2015). These kura (schools) needed trained teachers who were fluent in te reo Māori. Today, Māori students who attend Māori medium education achieve at higher levels in national qualifications than Māori students in English-medium schools (Education Counts, 2021). However, fewer Māori students are enrolled in Māori-medium education (more than 95% of Māori students attend English-medium education). In English-medium schools where kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophies) and relational pedagogy have been introduced, there have also been improved levels of academic success for Māori (Bishop et al., 2003).

Since the early 2000s, demand has increased for teachers to respond to and meet the educational needs and aspirations of Māori students (Ministry of Education, 2008, 2013a). Some researchers have argued that Māori teachers are a vital element in improving and advancing the educational outcomes of Māori students (Lee, 2005, June 24; McNaughton, 2020). Māori teachers can connect and engage more readily with Māori students due to their shared culture and background. In contrast, many Pākehā teachers have limited awareness of Māori language, knowledge systems, values, and customs (Bishop et al., 2003; Bishop & Glynn, 2011; McKinley, 2002), and struggle to relate to Māori students.

Despite the recent focus on improved educational outcomes for Māori, achievement disparities between Māori and non-Māori persist (New Zealand Qualifications Authority, 2017). In many schools, deficit theorizing and low expectations for Māori students endure (Turner et al., 2015), along with resistance by some teachers and academic scholars to incorporate Māori history, knowledge, and relational pedagogy into the curriculum (Rata, 2012). Like their students, Māori teachers navigate an English-medium, mainstream system, where their culture, knowledge, and language are sidelined in favor of the dominant Pākehā culture. At the same time, Māori teachers are expected to guide non-Māori colleagues to integrate Māori language and knowledge into their programmes and to understand their obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi (Gilgen, 2016; Mitchell & Mitchell, 1993; Torepe & Manning, 2018).

The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement signed in 1840 between 540 Māori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown that promised to provide equal rights for Māori and Pākehā in New Zealand. When Māori signed the Treaty, they agreed to allow the Crown to govern but retained authority over their lands, villages, and all their treasures. Differences in the Māori and English texts of the Treaty have led to ongoing disputes about the level of authority Māori retained and what they ceded to the Crown (Barrett & Connolly-Stone, 1998). Although the Treaty has always been a critical point of reference for Māori, it was not honored by the Crown or considered within New Zealand law or government policies (including education) until near the end of the twentieth century (Tomlins-Jahnke & Warren, 2011).

Within education currently, teachers are expected to meet their Treaty of Waitangi obligations through the principles of partnership, participation, and protection. Partnership means that Māori are equal decision-makers in all educational issues that involve Māori students and their families. Participation ensures that Māori students have equality of access and opportunity to participate fully in all levels of education and schooling. Finally, protection ensures Māori knowledge, interests, values, and treasures are protected. The survival and safeguarding of Māori language for future generations is an important aspect of the protection principle (Ministry of Education, 2012a; Tomlins-Jahnke & Warren, 2011).

To maintain their teacher registration and practicing certificate, New Zealand teachers are required to use te reo me ona tikanga Māori (Māori language and culture/customs) in their practice (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2017, p. 17). However, evidence suggests that this is not always happening (Tito, 2008). The limited implementation of Māori language and knowledge in New Zealand schools and centers is exacerbated by the low numbers of non-Māori teachers who speak te reo Māori and understand Māori culture (Bishop & Glynn, 2011).

Initial teacher education programmes have begun to introduce more Māori language into their courses. However, these courses are often at an elementary level (e.g., basic pronunciation, greetings, colors, and numbers). Consequently, they do little to increase the level of te reo Māori spoken in English-medium schools/centers unless teachers commit time to Māori language learning. Some training institutions offer a Bachelor of Education in Māori-medium education for students already proficient in te reo Māori. However, most graduates of Māori-medium programmes go on to work in Te Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori, not English-medium education (Education Counts, 2020). Therefore, all teachers in English-medium schools/centers must meet the requirements for implementing te reo me ona tikanga Māori, and the Treaty of Waitangi into their practice to help reduce the workload on Māori teachers who are over-burdened supporting their colleagues in these areas.

Māori Teachers’ Experiences in English-Medium Schools and Centers

There is limited research that focuses on the experiences of Māori teachers in English-medium education. Mitchell and Mitchell’s (1993) study explored why Māori teachers left the profession, and Lee’s (2008) doctorate researched high school te reo Māori teachers’ experiences. Other studies in this field are primarily Master’s theses (Coffin, 2013; Gilgen, 2016). An exception is the research of Torepe and colleagues (Torepe et al., 2018; Torepe & Manning, 2018). They investigated the experiences of Māori teachers who returned to teaching in mainstream schools after completing a Māori immersion/bilingual teaching qualification. Further research is needed to confirm whether Māori teachers’ current workload and conditions are consistent with those found in earlier studies.

Methodology

This study utilized a generic qualitative inquiry approach—a research methodology that investigates participants’ experiences and seeks their views, attitudes, beliefs, thoughts, or reflections about those experiences. It works well with data collected via surveys (Percy et al., 2015) as in the current study. Our survey transcripts were analyzed thematically following the steps outlined in Braun and Clarke’s (2006) inductive approach for analyzing qualitative data.

Participants

The participants were 16 teachers of Māori descent who completed an anonymous online survey about their experiences in English-medium education. All teachers were currently teaching or had previously taught in English-medium schools or centers. Fourteen participants were female, and two were male. Participants were from the elementary (10/16), high school (2/16), or the early childhood sector (3/16). One teacher had taught across both the elementary and high school sectors. Teaching experience ranged from less than 6 years to more than 20 years, with 50% of teachers in the 1–5 years range. The most common qualification was a Bachelor’s degree (12/16), three teachers had a Master’s degree, and nine had diplomas or postgraduate diplomas.

Procedure

Through advertisements posted on social media and teaching networks, Māori teachers were invited to complete a survey about their current or previous experiences teaching in English-medium education. An online, anonymous, open-ended survey was selected as it enabled the efficient collection of data from teacher participants throughout New Zealand. Another benefit of online surveys is that they provoke more honest answers from participants who may answer in more socially acceptable ways if interviewed face-to-face (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002). An open-ended survey has the added advantage of eliciting a wide range of spontaneous and varied responses from participants. In contrast, closed questions limit participants to answers that are provided by the researcher (Reja et al., 2003). A list of the survey questions is provided in Fig. 29.1.

Fig. 29.1

Survey questions

Findings and Discussion

This section reports the thematically analyzed data from the teachers’ online surveys and discusses how each theme aligns with existing research literature. The eight themes are displayed in Fig. 29.2. The first five themes describe Māori teacher-identified benefits and challenges of teaching in English medium education. The final three themes discuss why Māori teachers leave teaching and suggest changes to improve retention and conditions for Māori teachers.

Fig. 29.2

Themes from the data analysis

Access to Support from Other Māori Teachers

Participants reported that the number of Māori teachers employed in their schools or centers ranged from 1–10 teachers; the average was 3.8. For teachers who were the sole Māori teacher in a school or center (5/16), “Not having other Māori teachers to feed off” was a challenge. All three early childhood education participants identified that they were the only Māori teacher in their centers. However, nine teachers were in schools with four or more Māori colleagues, and they relished the support and the opportunities for collaboration. For example, “I had a great team (Māori teachers) to work with. We would always get together to have a chat about anything”. This finding differed from prior research (Mitchell & Mitchell, 1993; Torepe, 2011), where teachers frequently reported that they experienced cultural isolation and loneliness as the only Māori teacher in a school. It is pleasing that schools are employing more than one Māori teacher. However, collegial support also needs to be a focus for English-medium early childhood centers.

Expectations, Roles, and Responsibilities of Māori Teachers

Along with teaching their students and planning lessons, Māori teachers were responsible for a wide range of cultural activities in their school or center. Table 29.1 presents a list of the teachers’ roles and responsibilities and the number of teachers who reported each type. The time teachers spent weekly on these tasks, over and above their general teaching responsibilities, ranged from 1 hour to 30 hours, with an average time of 5½ hours per week.

Table 29.1 Māori teachers additional roles and responsibilities

A common issue for Māori teachers was leaders or colleagues who assumed that being Māori made them an expert or authority on all aspects of Māori culture and knowledge. Participants in Torepe’s (2011) research referred to this as being “a one-stop-Māori-shop” (p. 77). In the current study, one teacher said it was expected “[That] I know absolutely everything to do with ‘things’ Māori”. Other teachers were pressured to take on roles for which they had no expertise or experience. One said, “Some schools send the hard-to-teach Māori kids to the Māori teacher to ‘fix up’… or, you are Māori, you take kapa haka. …If they looked at my CV, you will see no mention of ‘I love to take kapa haka’”. Teachers were also uncomfortable when they were expected to speak on behalf of all Māori. For example, one teacher wondered, “How one person like me can speak on all the issues of Māori and tikanga… Am I Māori enough to do this?”

Finally, some participants’ relational skills with Māori students and whānau led others to assume that they could support students and families from all non-dominant ethnic groups in their schools or centers. One teacher said she was the “Overall advocate for Māori whānau and Pasifika families [those originating from the Pacific Islands], and minority groups”.

The wide range of demands on Māori teachers because of their ethnicity are described by Padilla (1994) as ‘cultural taxation’. Other studies (Torepe, 2011; Torepe et al., 2018; Torepe & Manning, 2018) have also acknowledged that multiple additional roles, for which Māori teachers often felt a cultural obligation, came at a personal and professional cost. Many teachers reported feeling ‘burned out’ or unable to maintain high standards in other aspects of their work (Torepe, 2011). It was evident that there needed to be greater support and acknowledgement of Māori teachers’ work.

Acknowledgment of Māori Teachers’ Work

To acknowledge the time spent on additional tasks for Māori students and whānau, nine of the participants in this study received management units (MU; $5000 per unit per annum), a middle management allowance (MMA; $2000 per allowance per annum), or a Māori Immersion Teacher Allowance (MITA; $4000 per annum). Management units provide teachers with an extra hour of non-contact time, but there is no time allowance attached to MMAs or MITAs (PPTA, 2020).

One teacher who reported spending an additional 30 hours per week on her further responsibilities referred to her school’s unwillingness to allocate management units to Māori. She said:

You could grow tomatoes, call yourself Head of Environment and receive a Management unit. [But] for me to argue that the bilingual unit should receive a management unit? I had to walk away from my job and give that role to someone else because the top didn’t want me to have more [management units] than the DP [Deputy Principal].

Some participants received extra non-contact time in addition to management units, whereas other teachers only received time off or were thanked in staff meetings. Two participants did not receive any acknowledgement or payment for their additional roles and responsibilities.

Previous research has reported that the cultural labor of Māori teachers is consistently unrecognized, inadequately supported, or unpaid (Mitchell & Mitchell, 1993; Torepe & Manning, 2018). Although more than half the teachers in the current study received some form of extra payment, none came close to compensating the actual time that teachers expended. Nonetheless, participants were strongly committed to supporting their students’ learning.

Supporting Student Learning

Teachers valued the opportunity to share Māori language and culture in their schools or centers and reported that most of their students enjoyed it. Other teachers reflected positively that Māori language and culture now had its rightful space in mainstream education, after being excluded for so many decades. For example:

We have a culturally diverse kindergarten,¹ and I love that I am able to share what I know with our tamariki [children] from all over the world. I love that our language is celebrated as this was certainly not the case when I was growing up.

As Māori teachers, participants were particularly committed to teaching Māori students and ensuring their success. One teacher explained, “I love the children, all children, but I am drawn to upholding the mana [status] of Māori children …. playing my part in setting them up with high expectations for their future education”.

Teachers were especially proud of Māori students who they observed navigating successfully between the Māori and Pākehā worlds. For example, “Working with tauira Māori [Māori students] who naturally converse in te reo or English, depending upon who they are conversing with—seeing our tauira Māori me kaiako [Māori students and teachers] carrying their culture with them throughout the day”. Durie (2001) argued that education must prepare Māori students to be successful in both te ao Māori (the Māori world) and te ao Pākehā (the Pākehā world). Māori teachers have an essential role in ensuring that students have access to Māori language, knowledge, and culture to increase their opportunities for dual success by the time they finish their education. Unfortunately, racism continues to impede Māori teachers working in English-medium education.

Racism

Most participants had been subjected to or had witnessed racism in their schools or centers. Sometimes, the discrimination was blatant. For example, one teacher said, “On my first day in a new school, my team leader referred to Māori and Pasifika students as ‘bloody coconuts’. I should have called him out, but I was just too shocked…” Other teachers reported that school/center leaders and those in governance positions were racist. For example, “A BOT [Board of Trustees]² member took his kids out of our school because I was opening another bilingual class. His statement: ‘it’s getting too Māori here’. At the time, we had 86% Māori students”. Another teacher said, “The BOT and Senior Management hold ideas that frankly are racist…Schools make the ‘culture’ uninviting to anyone who isn’t white; it’s toxic. But the Pākehā teachers don’t understand this because it is a white-cultured school”.

Teachers reported that there was a sense that Māori language and culture had a low priority in their schools and centers. For example, “We always come beneath English” and “You always had to push for Māori rights using school policies”. In some cases, teachers felt alone in supporting Māori students and families. One teacher said, “[There was a] lack of commitment from the other teachers to ensuring whānau Māori [Māori families] and Pasifika and minority groups were valued, respected, and honored. Although there were some teachers who tried, the majority did not and were racist.” Unsurprisingly, racism and a lack of support led to teacher attrition.

Teacher Attrition

For the participants who had left English-medium education, or seriously considered leaving, their reasons included insufficient support, a lack of commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, and being worn down through mental or physical exhaustion. One teacher said, “Māori teachers get hōhā (annoyed) or burnt out having to deal with so much”. Attrition is common across the research on Māori teachers. Mitchell and Mitchell’s (1993) study found that Māori teachers who had left the profession, did so for various reasons including stress due to excessive workloads. Subsequent studies have highlighted similar findings (Whitehead et al., 2000), and recent research by Torepe and colleagues (Torepe, 2011; Torepe et al., 2018; Torepe & Manning, 2018) reported that 50% of their original participants had left teaching.

One teacher in the current study who had left English-medium education to work in Māori-medium education was not interested in returning. She said,

I won’t work in mainstream early childhood education again. I left because there is a noticeable lack of authentic commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). Whānau Māori were not respected—including myself—yet [we] were expected to be performing seals on certain occasions…

The expectation for Māori teachers to perform pōwhiri or other Māori rituals in English-medium schools or centers aligns with existing research (Stewart, 2020; Stewart et al., 2015). It can be difficult for Māori teachers to reconcile their leaders’ or colleagues’ desire to include these rituals in the school culture while simultaneously holding racist, disrespectful, and deficit beliefs about Māori students and their whānau (Stewart, 2020). Engagement with Māori culture should not be tokenistic or only on display for celebratory or public-facing events (Torepe & Manning, 2018). A genuine commitment to Māori teachers, students, and their whānau comes from respecting and normalizing Māori culture in schools/centers.

Retaining Teachers

The Māori teachers who remained working in English-medium education stayed because of a “passion for their students”. They had not considered leaving because, as one teacher said, “There’s still too much to do!” However, teachers understood the challenges of teaching in the mainstream. One teacher said, “Kaiako Māori (Māori teachers) who leave the profession do so because they work in schools where colonization remains the status quo, and they become powerless”. She encouraged Māori teachers to “…work alongside more kaiako Māori, [where they] have the collective strength to make changes – and be happier in their work. Maybe then, they’ll stick around as long as I have (39 years).”

Participants recognized that for Māori teachers to be attracted to teaching or retained in English-medium schools and centers, major culture shifts were required. For some organizations, acknowledging that Pākehā culture was entrenched and that current practices were not inclusive or supportive of Māori was an essential first step. Furthermore, self-determination and autonomy were seen as a solution for improving English-medium education settings for Māori.

Māori Self-Determination and Autonomy

Participants strongly asserted that educational success for Māori students depended on Māori involvement and decision-making. One teacher said, “I firmly believe in the catch cry: ‘By Māori, for Māori, with Māori’ ‘cos Pākehā don’t know, nor will they ever know, what it means to be Māori… they won’t break down the barriers that constrain us…” Some participants also noted that Māori teachers needed to be in leadership to ensure success for their students. For example,

My one reason for moving into ‘management’ in 2013 was to safeguard the establishment of the reo rua (bilingual) unit which was initiated and co-founded by myself and my teina (younger sibling) …In true consultation with our Māori community, we built a kaupapa (philosophy) which focused on tauira Māori learning as Māori to enable high Māori student achievement.

Finally, several teachers emphasized the importance of working in schools where Māori people, histories, and world views were valued and where they could be Māori. One teacher explained, “Māori teachers need to be in safe spaces where being Māori is respected and honored”.

The assertion that Māori-led initiatives will lead to the best outcomes for Māori is supported in the literature relating to kaupapa Māori education (Tocker, 2007, 2015). However, in English-medium education, where most Māori are located, the Pākehā-centric structures and culture obstruct self-determination and autonomy for Māori. Notwithstanding, Lee (2008) argued that Māori teachers in English-medium education can achieve relative autonomy through enacting kaupapa Māori philosophies. Māori-centric educational interventions in English-medium schools (Bishop et al., 2003) have also supported self-determination for Māori.

Conclusions and Implications

This qualitative study utilized an open-ended online survey to explore Māori teachers’ experiences in English-medium schools and centers. The inclusion of teachers from early childhood education, elementary, and high school sectors aimed to gain insights into the benefits and challenges that current and previous teachers faced. The study investigated the benefits and challenges for Māori teachers (research question 1) and what changes were needed in schools, centers, and education more broadly to attract and retain teachers in the profession (research question 2).

A key finding from this study was that Māori teachers spent many hours supporting the pastoral, cultural, and academic needs of Māori students and whānau. Although some teachers’ work was acknowledged through management units and non-contact time, it did not adequately compensate for the time expended.

Participants were positive about including Māori language and culture in their school or center programs, but many reported that Māori initiatives had a low priority. Cultural shifts needed to occur at school or center level, as the decisions made by management and Boards of Trustees had the greatest impact on a teacher’s everyday working environment.

To attract and retain Māori teachers in English-medium schools and centers, leaders first need to acknowledge the extent of teachers’ cultural labor, and then provide appropriate and extensive support that reflects their work’s value. Support for teachers should allow them to be effective practitioners and give them the time, space, and resources needed to contribute to Māori students, whānau, and their school community. Furthermore, roles and responsibilities should be shared equitably between staff in the school. As cited earlier, all teachers in New Zealand schools and centers, not just Māori teachers, have a duty to use te reo Māori me ngā tikanga-a-iwi in their practice and to meet the cultural, pastoral, and academic needs of Māori students. In 2019, the New Zealand government (Te Puni Kōkiri, 2019) set the goals:

• By 2040, one million New Zealanders will be able to speak basic te reo Māori; and

• 150,000 Māori aged 15 and over will use te reo Māori as much as English.

These goals are in addition to the demands on teachers to improve the educational outcomes of Māori students. Meeting these aspirational goals relies heavily on having sufficient numbers of Māori teachers, and currently, there are not enough. The findings in this study have shown that there are dedicated and committed Māori teachers working in English-medium schools and centers, but they are overworked and under-appreciated. To achieve improved outcomes for Māori students, and to protect and revitalize the Māori language, Māori teachers must be supported to continue their valuable work.

Our findings demonstrated the dedication and commitment of overworked Māori teachers in English-medium settings. Increased Māori teacher recruitment may help ease future cultural and pastoral workload. Nevertheless, reducing attrition by supporting currently employed teachers is essential. Future research could explore ideal conditions for Māori teachers and the resourcing and support needed. However, non-Māori teachers and principals need to assume and share responsibility for Māori students/children. Improved Māori outcomes cannot be achieved by Māori teachers alone. Future research, therefore, could investigate the school cultures where Māori teacher retention is high and where teachers experience high levels of support from non-Māori colleagues. This research could benefit schools that need guidance to attract, support, and retain Māori teachers.

Glossary

Aotearoa:

The Māori name for New Zealand

English-medium/mainstream schools:

English-medium or mainstream schools are schools where the language of instruction is English

Hōhā:

Annoyed

Iwi Māori:

Māori people

Kaiako:

Teacher

Kapa haka:

Māori performing arts

Karakia:

A ritual chant or prayer

Kaupapa:

Philosophy

Kura:

School

Kura Kaupapa Māori:

Schools where the language of instruction and philosophies are Māori

Mana:

Authority/power

Māori:

Indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand

Pākehā:

A non-Māori New Zealander of European or British descent

Pasifika:

Refers to the people, cultures, and language of Pacific groups including Sāmoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and other smaller Pacific nations – Who are now living in New Zealand

Pōwhiri:

A traditional welcoming ceremony

Reo Rua:

Bilingual unit in a school where the instruction is in te reo Māori and English

Tamariki:

Children

Tauira Māori:

Māori students

Teina:

A younger sibling of the same sex

Te ao Māori:

The Māori world

Te ao Pākehā:

The Pākehā world

Te Kōhanga Reo:

Māori-medium language nests/preschools

Te reo Māori:

The Māori language

Tikanga Māori:

Māori culture/customs/values

Waiata:

Song

Whānau:

Family/extended family

Whānau hui:

Family meeting

Whānau unit:

A multi-level grouping of Māori students in a school, designed to be a like a family who care and support each other

Wharekura:

Māori medium high school