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Te Tiriti o Waitangi - Are the Principles alive?

Te Tiriti o Waitangi - are the values alive?

The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) states that “The curriculum acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand.  All students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga” (p.9).

As educators we are often asked ‘Are you enacting Te Tiriti of Waitangi?’ and almost everyone answers yes.  But do educators truly know what this means?  Often this is hard for teachers to explain or put into words.

I believe that one of the ways that educators can start making progress towards enacting the treaty is by looking at the 3 P’s or the Principles of the treaty.  These principles are partnership, participation and protection. I am constantly growing my knowledge of the treaty and the principles and how these are enacted throughout my pedagogy and philosophy, my journey is growing and evolving with knowledge and time. 

Here are some examples for those who may be confused about how as teachers we can show that we are utilising the Treaty of Waitangi in our everyday classrooms.  This is not a finalised list, you could use this to reflect on where you are at, or even get some ideas on how you can improve your practice, but please know that there is ALWAYS more that we can be doing to go deeper into how we acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  Equity for Māori flows through each of the three principles discussed below.

Partnership - Encouraging Maori participation in all areas of schooling is one of the ways that we can ensure that partnership is alive and well.  Changing our perceptions on how we approach and engage with Maori will support this partnership and strengthen relationships.

  • Engage IN and with the Maori community
  • Include place based learning in your school, learn the history of your area, learn the pepeha of your area
  • Ensure that Maori are represented on BOT and PTA forums and actively encourage and support this within your school environment
  • READ documentation such as Ka Hikitia and Tu Rangitira and utilise these within your school

Participation - Ensuring positive participation of Maori is woven throughout the school is an essential part of providing a positive image of success for Maori.  There are a range of ways that this can happen

  • Fostering a whanau like culture within a school
  • Proudly display your school whakapapa, your goals and aspirations for ALL learners, emphasising the importance of achievement as Maori
  • Working hard to maintain home and school partnerships
  • Open and clear communication
  • A proactive, approachable, understanding, relatable leadership team
  • Personal invitations to events
  • Sharing in school/class and individual student decision making
  • Role modelling Māori language and the importance of Māori customs

Protection - making efforts to ensure that Māori culture and language is valued, respected, expressed and encouraged is an important part of ensuring the essence of protection.  Ensuring students know that who they are and where they come from is a key part of their learning journey is an important part in this.  Protection includes
  • Normalising Maori language - including formulaic and the teaching of Maori to students
  • Learning about tikanga and protocols from your area and incorporating these into your school environment
  • Ensuring place based learning happens so that students can connect with the land
  • Value and share Maori achieving as Maori
  • Know your learners on a personal level

One of my key philosophies about educational leadership is ‘He mea nui o te ao? He Tangata! He Tangata! He Tangata! - what is the most important thing?  The people! The people! The people!’ So for me forming, developing and fostering relationships is a key leadership action in education and in becoming a partner in the treaty.  I strongly believe that through authentic, trusting relationships, the principles of the treaty are able to be strengthened and go from surface level to deeper level.




This blog post was inspired by a reading called "Te Tiriti o Waitangi - Living the Values" by Anna Clements.  Thanks to Ms Emma Lockett for supplying me with the reading!  Truly inspirational. 

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