This is the first in a series of national reports that ERO will publish over the next two years about Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori. From February 2011 Māori-medium kura and settings, including immersion and bilingual classes in mainstream schools, have been required to implement Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and use Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori.
This report focuses on how well kura and schools were preparing to implement Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori during 2010. It also evaluates how well kura and schools reviewed during Terms 1, 2 and 3, 2011were beginning to implement Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and work with Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori.
ERO found that most kura and immersion units in English-medium schools are either giving effect or were developing their confidence with using Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
The use of Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori was not as advanced as the implementation of the marautanga and presented schools with more challenges. In part this was because of the requirement for simultaneous implementation of the marautanga and the whanaketanga. For some kura and schools, establishing a clear pathway for development was difficult because of their limited understanding of, or access to, resources and information about Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori in particular.
The significant features of well prepared kura and schools were:
- high quality educational leadership
- building on effective current practices
- high quality whāau and iwi involvement
- an ability to reflect their special character in their marautanga
- accessed high quality professional development and support.
Leadership was central to the overall preparation of kura and schools. Kura and school leaders provided the important coordination between the whāau/iwi and community of a kura/school and the teachers who were responsible for implementing learning programmes based on Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Likewise, their proactive approach to implementing Te Marautanga o Aotearoa was also reflected in how well they were beginning to use NgāWhanaketanga Rumaki Māri. Where this leadership was lacking, progress towards implementation was limited.
ERO identified some issues for English-medium schools that provide immersion or bilingual education. These schools faced some significant challenges in managing the requirements of two national curriculum frameworks and the respective sets of national standards. Boards and leaders in some English-medium schools lacked understanding of the specific requirements of Te Matauranga o Aotearoa and NgāWhanaketanga Rumaki Māri. Consequently curriculum leadership was often left to the lead teacher in the Rumaki immersion unit. In some cases, boards’ stipulation that teachers use both sets of standards risked compromising the integrity of the kaupapa of the rumaki unit.
ERO will continue to investigate progress in implementing Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and using NgāWhanaketanga Rumaki Māri as part of its reviews in kura and schools in 2012.