Support for Maori Language Education

Teacher supply

There is a range of strategies designed to increase the supply of teachers of te reo Māori and teachers in te reo Māori medium settings.  This includes the TeachNZ scholarships which were reviewed in 2004.  Scholarships are now available for:

• Secondary teachers of particular subjects including te reo Māori.  The scholarship will pay fees for a student’s subject degree study and their teacher education programme;
• Early childhood education teaching scholarships are available to people from low income families or those enrolled in a programme with a kaupapa Māori or Pasifika focus; and
• Māori medium teaching scholarships are available for people who have a level of te reo Māori fluency, who wish to study to become Māori medium teachers.

All scholarship recipients will be bonded to teach in New Zealand for a period following study.

A second initiative includes the Secondary Subject Trainee allowance (SSTA) ($10,000) for tertiary graduates with at least a 200-level paper in te reo Māori, to become secondary school teachers of te reo Māori. 

Other such initiatives are:

• Māori immersion teaching allowance (MITA), an allowance paid to teachers who teach in a Māori medium environment
• Loan support:  From 2005 Māori medium teachers in their 2nd to 4th years of teaching will be eligible to receive $2,500 per annum to assist with repayment of student loans
• Some of TeachNZ’s teacher recruitment material aims specifically to attract males into teacher education programmes and teaching.  However, there are no incentives in place that are gender specific.

Ensuring a good supply of teachers who can teach in Māori medium settings continues to be a high priority for government. 

Support Kura Kaupapa and Kohanga

The following initiatives are (or have been) undertaken:

• Three kaupapa Māori programmes of early childhood education were developed during 2004 and are available for enrolment from February 2005.  Two more are nearing completion, and it is anticipated that they will be presented to NZQA and the NZ Teachers Council for approval in 2005.  The development of three of the five new programmes has been assisted financially by the Government.
• In the Auckland area, TeachNZ is currently running an advertising campaign to promote the status of early childhood teaching. The promotion includes qualified and registered Māori teachers as role models.
• New-look TeachNZ Scholarships have been developed in 2004 to encourage people to enrol in specific kaupapa Māori programmes of early childhood teacher education. There are 700 scholarships available, and each is potentially worth $10,000, with a possibility of up to a further $10,000 in allowances if the successful recipient is studying full time.

During 2003 and 2004, a recruitment campaign was undertaken to increase the numbers of Māori early childhood teachers in the sector.  A second contract has been signed to continue this campaign through until June 2006.  It has a focus on kanohi-ki-te-kanohi strategies.

Resourcing

Since 2001, the Government has been providing schools with extra teachers as part of the implementation of the school staffing improvements.  A teacher:student ratio of 1:20 was introduced from the beginning of 2004 for Māori students learning in te reo Māori for more than 12.5 hours a week. 

There is a commitment to complete the staffing improvements for secondary and area schools by 2006.  Staffing improvements for primary schools have been extended with a commitment to complete them by the beginning of 2008 at the latest. 

Curriculum

The Curriculum Stocktake project brought about several recommendations for the modification of The New Zealand Curriculum Framework and Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa.  The Marautanga o Aotearoa (MoA) project is implementing the stocktake recommendations concerning Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa.  This involves refining Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa so that it is underpinned by Māori philosophies and educational practices, and better reflects the needs of learners in Māori medium education. 

The project is using a co-construction process, and will involve many stakeholder groups in Māori medium education throughout the duration of the project.  It is important that the project explores a range of views on the nature and scope of the curriculum at national and local level.  To this end, work begun earlier in 2004 and progress has been in the form of consultation with various sector groups and commissioning of research.

Key consultation groups (Ohu Whaiti and Ohu Matua) have been established and will help guide the project.  These groups include representation from National Association of Resource Teachers and Advisors of Māori (NARTAM), New Zealand Educational Institute, Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, Post Primary Teachers Association, Iwi education partners, Education Review Office, Te Kohanga Reo National Trust, curriculum experts, and other educationalists.   Other groups involved in the MoA project to date are NARTAM, Resource Teachers of Māori, Advisers Māori, Nga Toi lead facilitators and Whakapiki Reo providers.  Groups have discussed the possible scope of the project, and key questions facing Māori education such as ‘What does it mean to be involved in Te Ao Māori?’

Further information on the Curriculum Stocktake and Marautanga o Aotearoa project can be found at: www.tki.org.nz

Resource Teachers Māori – professional support

The Government is not seeking to increase the number of Advisors Māori or Resource Teachers Māori.  The priority is on addressing quality, management, support and professional development for the RTM service.  Work to progress this is on-going and is being progressed collaboratively along with National Association of Resource Teachers and Advisors Māori (NARTAM) and NZEI.