Chapter 11: Discursive Repositioning in Te Kotahitanga: Supporting Teachers to Improve the Educational Experiences of Mãori Students in New Zealand

Many Indigenous peoples across the world continue to be marginalised by the very systems and structures that seek to educate. In New Zealand for example, the educational experience of many Indigenous Mãori students continues to result in participation and achievement disparities between themselves and students of European descent. Educational disparities such as these then perpetuate the increasing division between these same groups in wider society. Disparities such as these are often embedded in historical discourses of pathology and deficit. Whilst recognising the strong influence of discourses such as these, this chapter focuses mainly on what can be achieved when educators focus on discourses of their own pedagogical agency in classrooms. This chapter discusses Te Kotahitanga, a New Zealand school reform project that for the past decade has been working with teachers in secondary schools to improve the pedagogical contexts in which Mãori students are taught. It does this by assisting these teachers to implement an Effective Teaching Profile that was developed from the voices and experiences of Mãori students and some of their teachers. This Effective Teaching Profile becomes the means for developing contexts for learning that are relational and culturally responsive. Overall, culturally responsive pedagogy of relations such as this has proven to be effective for reducing educational disparities for Mãori students by improving their schooling experiences and thus, their participation and retention. This chapter will show how the professional development provided to teachers has begun to result in positive and successful education experiences for these teachers and their Mãori students.