DR PEGGY BURROWS

provide them with professional learning opportunities that assist them to build cultural awareness. Successfully led kura/schools liaise with their local rūnanga to develop local curriculum that reflects the needs and aspirations of the kura’s community.

Manukura/senior leaders who understand the importance of whakapapa, manaakitanga, whānaungatanga and rangatiratanga have already made incremental change in the lives of the ākonga and whānau they serve. Kaupapa Māori hautūtanga principles are underpinned by the concept of servant leadership and it is only when a manukura lives to serve that true change for ākonga Māori will occur. In the 21st century, Māori still bear the scars of colonisation and for many, Pākehā have not yet earned the privilege of trust. Our education system is broken when things as fundamental as the pronunciation of an ākonga Māori’s name is seen as problematic.

Mōriroriro/alienation occurs for ākonga Māori when they are denied equal access, equal opportunity and equally clear educational pathways in education as their Pākehā peers. In the past, unless ākonga Māori students were prepared to exhibit attributes and behaviours that mirrored Pākehā norms when they were at school, they were often placed on a behaviour spectrum that described them as strange, nonconformist, noncompliant, disruptive, defiant, deviant and dangerous. As long as our educational leaders continue to espouse the rhetoric of equality within the Aotearoa New Zealand education system the status quo will prevail.

Manukura/senior leaders who challenge descriptors that diminish ākonga Māori and refuse to view them through culturally biased lenses, and instead frame their view from a te ao Māori perspective will ultimately reduce the discrimination ākonga Māori face. In doing so, they reduce the dire consequences ākonga Māori face within the system, including stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions.

School Charters promise equal access for all to quality education in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, as long as our kura/school systems, structures and operations are underpinned by hegemonic assumptions, ākonga Māori will continue to suffer disadvantage. A Pākehā world view will always grant unfettered access for ākonga Pākehā to the kura/school’s resources to the detriment of ākonga Māori. Until a te ao Māori/Māori world view is the accepted lens through which to view ākonga Māori needs, aspirations and dreams within the AotearoaNew Zealand’s education system there will be no improvement for their educational outcomes.

The challenge for all educational leaders in the 21st Century is to reframe concepts of hautūtanga/leadership to include kaupapa Māori principles and to include a te ao Māori world view so that the educational outcomes of ākonga Māori mirror those of their Pākehā peers.

Dr. Peggy Burrows

Dr Peggy Burrows is an experienced educator and currently leads Haeata Community Campus, a large modern learning environment located in East Christchurch. Peggy was appointed as a Justice of the Peace at age 33 and served on the bench in the District Court as a member of the Deportation Review Tribunal for a decade. Peggy is an Associate with AMINZ, and has over three decades of mediation, governance and leadership experience at senior levels in Education, Law, Conservation and Animal Welfare. In addition to these roles Peggy has, for the past thirty years, been the Business Manager for Burrows Harness Racing Stables, a family business owned in partnership with her husband, public trainer Donald Burrows. Peggy brings a professional clarity to her work in business, education, disputes resolution, mediation, advocacy and adjudication. Most importantly Peggy puts people at the centre of everything she does.

She can be reached at: peggyb@xtra.co.nz