Human Rights Commission

Purpose

According to the Matauranga Board of Ngati Kahungunu, “Education plays a significant role in the realisation of individual, whanau and hapu Rangatiratanga (self determination). Therefore creating better education outcomes for Kahungunu children is a major objective for the iwi.” Ngati Kahungunu has developed a set of Cultural Standards, to be applied to all learning institutions in the rohe, to help achieve Rangatiratanga.

There is no formal agreement between the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) and Ngati Kahungunu but together they have developed a work programme based on a number of contracts. Ministry personnel engage directly with the iwi. One way of doing this is by participating in joint project management teams.

Background

The Ministry of Education believes that partnerships with iwi create an opportunity for organisations, which were formerly acting in isolation, to work together to improve Maori education outcomes. These relationships facilitate opportunities for iwi to be full participants in the education system alongside learners, parents, schools and the Ministry. When all parties are working together much more can be achieved.

The aim of working together is to bring greater opportunities for iwi to have increased responsibility for designing and implementing solutions to encourage wider inclusion and improved learning for their children.

Both Kahungunu and the Ministry have the common goal of enabling Maori to succeed as Maori.

Roles

Ngati Kahungunu provides the leadership for the programme. It contributes matauranga and personnel and has the role of monitoring educational performance within the rohe. The iwi is responsible for transmitting cultural knowledge to everyone in the rohe – tangata whenua, taura here and Pakeha alike.

The Ministry supports Kahungunu’s educational goals by providing significant funding as well as expertise and advice.

What happens

In 2005, Kahungunu drew up a plan for improving Maori achievement, the Pae Tini Kaupapa: Ngati Kahungunu Matauranga Implementation Plan. In this the iwi defined Cultural Standards to enhance the mana and wellbeing of whanau, hapu and iwi. Ngati Kahungunu outlined several strategic goals:

· To be Kahungunu

· To be healthy and enjoy a high standard of living

· To participate as contributing citizens of the world.

The four cornerstones of the plan are:

1. Whanau development
2. Iwi leadership development and cultural reclamation
3. Strategic alliances
4. Cultural change – operationalising strategic alliances

Research shows that strong cultural identity is critical for children’s success in education. This is central to Kahungunu thinking when working with schools in order to see Maori succeed as Maori. So the iwi decided, as part of the Cultural Standards project, to find out what was happening in the rohe.

The iwi recently surveyed early childhood centres and schools in the rohe to identify what works (and what doesn’t) for Maori learners. The results show schools and centres believe that cultural knowledge improves teaching practice and leads to better achievement for Maori children, but there are not enough staff who are confident in using Maori and Ngati Kahungunu reo me ona tikanga regularly.

The survey will be followed up by iwi-designed professional development and resources for schools and centres. Findings from the survey will also feed into the research framework, Te Topuni Tauwhainga, developed by the iwi which underpins the whole Cultural Standards project.

The current educational priorities for Ngati Kahungunu are:

1. Whanau development and advocacy
2. Te reo me ona tikanga
3. Institutional and organisational relationships

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms the right of peoples such as Ngāti Kahungunu to “revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures” while the State must “take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected.” (Article 13)

What is working well

There is a good working relationship between the iwi and the Ministry. The cultural expectations from the iwi alongside the Ministry’s central focus on strengthening the role of parents and whanau to help their children in education form the basis of the partnership.

The Ministry believes the relationship with Ngati Kahungunu has developed significantly since the beginnings in 2002 and both parties have gained from thes partnership in terms of having a better understanding of the roles and expectations of each other. Working towards better educational outcomes for children of Ngati Kahungunu descent gives the relationship a clear focus that will benefit iwi. The work also reflects Ministry priorities for Maori education now and into the future.

For the iwi, they can see that their influence in the rohe is growing. Kahungunu have a collective voice, as well as the voices of whanau and hapu at each school, in which they support the people in their demand for excellence from all those who deliver services to the iwi.

The recent opportunity for a three-year secondment of a Kahungunu Ministry of Education staff member to Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc will contribute to the relationship and learning on both sides and to the sustainability of the partnership.

Looking ahead

The priorities for Ngati Kahungunu are whanau, hapu and iwi development and they often find it hard working with agencies like the Ministry that have a single sector focus and responsibility. This can be limiting for collaboration and it also makes it difficult for Kahungunu whānau to access sustainable and effective services and development opportunities. The integration of agency contracting arrangements and multi-year funding commitments would go a long way to solving these problems.

Another issue is that frequent government agency staff changes, along with the changing government priorities and policy agendas, make it hard to maintain and sustain relationships. Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc are hopeful that the Ministry’s Ka Hikitia programme will provide ongoing support to iwi development and will enhance the contributions iwi can make to education outcomes.

Documentation

Read about the Cultural Standards project on the Ngati Kahungunu website.

Last updated 15 July 2009