Feb 03 2025 28 mins 1
New Zealand's education system has under-served Māori learners for a long time. As a result, the 97% of Māori learners in English-medium settings collectively experience worse education outcomes than other learners and are less engaged in the education system.
Today we’re going to talk to three principals who have worked to turn around learning and achievement for Māori ākonga in their English-medium schools.
My guests are:
- Tom Paekau, principal of Merivale School in Tauranga
- Bruce Jepsen, manukura of Te Akatea - Māori Principals
- Ngahina Transom, tumuaki of Frimley School in Hastings
This podcast was produced for the Ministry of Education as part of Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals.
You can learn more about this topic by accessing Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals e-learning modules on the Education LMS: https://training.education.govt.nz
Show notes
Episode themes:
- Contributors to poor learning outcomes in a school
- Dealing with kaiako who engage in deficit theorising
- Role of tumuaki as rangatira in leading the journey of improvement
- Utilising the Ka Hikitea - Ka Hāpaitia (Māori education strategy) frameworks to help support and guide you through the policy around Māori experiencing success as Māori.
- Approaches to learning, teaching and PLD used to support Māori experiencing success as Māori.
Additional information
Ka Hikitea – Ka Hāpaitia Māori education strategy https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/overall-strategies-and-policies/ka-hikitia-ka-hapaitia
Te Akatea Māori Principals https://www.teakatea.co.nz/
Questions
2:21 [All] What do you think contributes to poor learning outcomes in a school?
5:38 [All] Have you worked with kaiako who do engage in deficit theorizing? And if so, how did you turn them around?
10:58 [Tom] What did people tell you about Merivale School before you started at the kura?
13:17 [Tom] What kinds of changes did you make that had such a massive impact?
15:03 [Bruce] How did you turn around your kura, what did you focus on?
16:57 [Bruce] What practical steps did you take to improve the way your ākonga were learning?
18:54 [Ngahina] Can you tell me about your part in turning around Frimley School?
24:32 [Ngahina] What professional learning and development do your kaiako do?
27:09 [Tom] Do you take a similar approach to PLD for your kaiako in your kura?
