supporting tiriti-based curriculum delivery in mainstream early ...

Prologue
This thesis is the story of myself as a researcher, constantly reflecting on
my own actions as well as those of the participants. It takes the approach of the
genre of autoethnography, although it is not entirely autoethnographic. I have,
however, positioned myself firmly as the writer of a story as I tell the narrative of
my research into Tiriti-based pedagogy. To this end my narrative is, in the words
of Ellis and Bochner (2003, p. 16):
a form that will allow readers to feel the moral dilemmas, think with our
story instead of about it, join actively in the decision points that define an
autoethnographic project, and consider how their own lives can be made
a story worth telling. (p. 735)
The use of I, therefore, is frequent in this thesis and one of the sources of
data for this study was myself; as researcher, co-researcher, observer, and reflector
on the research process.
It is important to point out at the outset that I am not Māori. I am a third
generation Pākehā (originally of Scottish and English descent) and my world view
is Pākehā. That notwithstanding, it is important I continue to be conscious of the
pitfalls of being tunnel-visioned and operating solely from a Pākehā perspective.
As Ritchie and Rau (2008, p. 83) point out, “this requires a transformation of the
western dominated early childhood discourse to be one validating of other cultural
paradigms”. 1 Part of this transformation is to be aware of who I am and thus how I
position myself in this research. Consequently, it seems appropriate to make
visible aspects of my life which influenced choices I made in preparing this thesis:
Thus, to greater or lesser extent, researchers incorporate their personal
experiences and standpoints in their research by starting with a story
about themselves, explaining their personal connection to the project, or
by using personal knowledge to help them in the research process. (Ellis
& Bochner, 2003, p. 741)
It is with this in mind I spend the next few pages telling those aspects of
my story that are relevant to this thesis journey.
1 Ritchie, and to a lesser extent Ritchie and Rau, is cited very frequently throughout this thesis. This
happens because she has made, and continues to make, an outstanding contribution to Tiriti-based
research in early childhood.
1