Kaupapa Māori Principles of Leadership

Kia Manawa Tītī (One of Great Stamina)

The absence of bicultural hautūtanga/leadership practices in the Aotearoa New Zealand education system has impacted negatively on ākonga Māori and inhibited their educational success as Māori for over 100 years. Ākonga Māori face significant wero/challenges in state funded schools by virtue of their ethnicity. These wero, invisible to the western-centric mainstream, result in behaviours that are often interpreted by staff as negative, disengaged, resistant, or worse, dangerous. It is a flawed assumption that AotearoaNew Zealand is an egalitarian society, an inclusive and bicultural eutopia.

Inequity for ākonga Māori permeates our state funded schools which creates and perpetuates disparities that speak to injustice and ineptitude. Improving hautūtanga/ leadership practices is the catalyst for change needed to ensure equity for ākonga Māori within the education system. The beginning point lies in challenging manukura/ senior leader’s to change their hautūtanga/leadership professional practice. The adoption of kaupapa Māori principles of hautūtanga/leadership is the key to effecting positive and lasting change.

Manukura/senior leaders who understand this need for change employ kaupapa Māori principles for hautūtanga/ leadership. These leaders personalise their relationships with ākonga Māori and their whānau, they ensure contact is kanohi ki te kanohi/face-to-face, they acknowledge te reo Māori underpins communication and whenever possible, such leaders speak te reo Māori to the best of their ability and do not shy away from that wero because they feel whakamā. Such leaders recognise whakapapa as integral to the building of trusting and lasting relationships and acknowledge the importance of names. According to Bishop and others:

Students identified the importance to them of having their names correctly pronounced, or teachers at least attempting to do so. Students considered that when teachers did this, it meant that they were trying to foster a positive relationship with each student. When this was not seen to be happening, the students would often respond with what was seen as inappropriate behaviour and were punished.

Kaupapa Māori hautūtanga principles call for publicly articulated, culturally safe strategies that build lasting relationships. Successful manukura/senior leaders create culturally safe learning spaces for kaimahi/staff and