Te Haerenga: Investigating engagement in Wairoa education.
Project Background
This research project was funded by the Wairoa Taiwhenua, Ngāti Kahungunu, through the Ministry of Education Whānau Engagement Fund. The aim of the study was to investigate the high levels of school student disengagement evident in the Wairoa community to better understand the causes and solutions. The research investigated student disengagement from the perspective of tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau, teachers and school leaders, community stakeholders and Ministry staff. This was done by exploring evidence of tauira Māori disengagement across the context of various schools involved in a specific Kāhui Ako across Wairoa.
What we did
A kaupapa Māori approach was implemented through the project from design, implementation, and reporting. The process was driven by local community stakeholders, implemented by the community with Ihi research supporting. In keeping with the design, Māori community researchers were recruited and trained in ethics and interview protocols. Community-based researchers interviewed 71 whānau, stakeholders, and educators. Ihi Research ran a training workshop that involved engagement, ethics, consent and interview procedures. Researchers then identified whānau, educators and stakeholders through snowball sampling or chainreferral sampling. A collaborative making meaning session was held to discuss research impressions, findings and key points of analysis in the data. The draft report was written, sent for review and reported ‘kanohi-ki-te-kanohi’ in Wairoa.
Outcome
The research finds that;
The Crown has failed to provide an equitable education for tamariki in Wairoa.
Structural racism is a feature of the schooling system which has served to disenfranchise many Māori tamariki in Wairoa.
Māori perspectives and solutions have been ignored or underfunded.
The disproportionate number of tamariki Māori being unenrolled without explanation13, excluded or expelled from Wairoa schools is unacceptable.
Decades of underachievement in Wairoa has been accepted by the Crown without significant intervention to remedy the situation.
The same mistakes seem to be repeating generation after generation.
We cannot wait another generation
““The solutions are in Wairoa already ...there’s a whole lot of local knowledge.”
- Educator
Find out how we can help you
We’ll work with you to find out what’s working, where investment could be put to best use or how to improve anything not going to plan. We can help you define success and set tangible, measurable goals. And we talk in real language so you can understand and engage with the findings. We engage with the community to conduct community research and consultations for private companies, trusts, government agencies, NGOs and more. But we have a special interest in research that has a purpose - to better society and teach lessons. We aim to help those we work with build capacity to enact positive change.
