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

not Māori, I have not been privy to what this knowledge may be, merely that this
protocol exists. However, in each case study, participants were calling on their
knowledge from their teacher education programmes and professional development
courses.
I can base my own knowledge on what occurs at my own institution (and
another at which I have taught) where the papers in which Māori knowledge is
delivered are developed after thorough and rigorous consultation with Māori.
These papers are taught either by Māori or by those approved by Māori. Ritchie
(2002b) noted that parts of the early childhood teacher education programmes
where she carried out her doctoral research were taught by Māori lecturers. It is
likely that similar processes are followed in other teacher education programmes.
This knowledge, therefore, to which participants had access, appeared to be
sanctioned and not the kind referred to by Jahnke and Taiapa (1999).
The other source of Māori knowledge was whānau Māori of children
attending the case study centres. In Case Study One, one Māori mother came to the
centre and taught the children how to make Māori bread, and a Māori father
contributed waiata both in person and with the gift of a cassette. In Case Study
Two, a visit was arranged to the local school for a pōwhiri and performance by the
kapa haka group. The Māori mother and grandmother of one of the kindergarten
children were instrumental in facilitating the visit and preparing the children, staff,
and parents. In Case Study Three, during the period of the research, the centre had
its official opening. A major aspect of this opening was the blessing of the centre
by the kaumātua from the hospital. This institution has a Māori group whose role
is to support individual and group efforts in Tiriti-based programmes.
The knowledge imparted through Māori in each case study was, therefore,
controlled by Māori. Although for non-Māori there is no way of knowing
otherwise, centres must trust that whatever whānau Māori share is appropriate for
them to share.
Clear links and examples to the core principles of ethical research as
stated by Tolich and Davidson (1999b) have been explained. Specifically in action
research participants may not want their contribution to be anonymous and/or
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