Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners

Tātaiako has been developed to help all educators think about what it takes to successfully teach Māori learners. It provides a guide to the development of cultural competence for teachers themselves, for their employers, and for Initial Teacher Education providers and providers of on-going teacher professional development.

It helps all educational practitioners in meeting the goals of Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success which:

• acknowledges the Treaty of Waitangi as a document that protects Māori learners’ rights to achieve true citizenship through gaining a range of skills and knowledge, as well as protecting te reo Māori as a taonga
• emphasises the responsibility of the education system to maximise the potential of Māori learners, rather than characterising the problem as the failure of Māori learners
• emphasises Māori students, whānau, hapū, iwi and educators sharing knowledge and expertise with each other to produce better outcomes for all.

Tātaiako has been developed by the Ministry of Education, along with the New Zealand Teachers Council and a Reference Group of academics, teacher education practitioners, and iwi representatives involved in iwi educational initiatives. It drew on research, existing frameworks, discussions with some iwi, and the experience of the Reference Group.

In addition, the Teachers Council has developed a document that shows how Tātaiako can be used alongside the Graduating Teachers Standards and Registered Teacher Criteria. This can be found on the Teachers Council website www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz.

Tātaiako is a starting point for schools and ECE services developing cultural competence. Most effective use will be made of it when whānau, hapū and iwi work together with schools and ECE services to determine the cultural competencies that are particular to their communities.

The Ministry will monitor the use of Tātaiako and will report back to government on its use and effectiveness at the end of 2012.

Print copies of Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners will be available shortly. A PDF version of the resource is available below.  For more information, email education.workforce@minedu.govt.nz.