‘Kaikaikaroro – Enhancing Student Success: The Learnings from Wānanga’ is the culmination of a three-year, $300,000 research project that has been jointly funded by Ako Aotearoa and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. It shares the experiences and stories of those within the three wānanga to better understand what supports Māori tauira within tertiary education. In doing so, it identifies key strategies that are working effectively for tauira and kaimahi.
Key Research Findings
-
- The ideas and definitions of ‘success’ must fundamentally be shaped from a Māori world view –we must consider how language, culture and identity play into our ideas of success, and importantly, this must contribute to how we measure success within education.
- Student success in education, and particularly for the students within the three Wānanga, are all linked to whakapapa, whānau and the ability to contribute back to our communities in meaningful ways.
- Excellent provision for Māori in tertiary education acknowledges and values te ao Māori, te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and provide opportunities for all participants in the organisation to understand the wider context of Aotearoa. For example, the impacts of colonisation on the Māori education experience, the importance of Māori centred approaches to teaching and learning, and nurturing ongoing conversations about Te Tiriti, equity and the collective movement of Māori education.
- The three wānanga in Aotearoa — through some common approaches but also through their own unique contexts and practices — provide excellent opportunities for Māori (at the individual, whānau and community levels) to experience success in ways that contribute to the collective good of Aotearoa.