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

To summarise across the three cases, when a team of educators with
similar aspirations started to implement Tiriti-based programmes, the support and
encouragement of each other was clearly a crucial factor in achieving success. In
this study, it was very apparent that deliberately appreciating and building on the
strengths of the collective gave rise to more effective teamwork and, in turn, this
enabled richer implementation of Tiriti-based curriculum. This is consistent with
the observations by Reid and Stover (2006) who noted that “groups can show
resilience, efficacy and an ability to achieve in the face of great odds” (p. 23), ) but
for this to happen, I would contend, two conditions have to be present. First, a
whole-of-team approach that emphasises working from a platform of success is
needed. Second, the importance of a strong leader cannot be over-emphasised.
Implementing Tiriti-based curriculum can be challenging and the teachers in this
research proved to be able to meet the challenges.
6.4.2 Leadership
Through observation at both Case Study One and Case Study Two centres
I was aware of the leadership that D and Alison provided to encourage Tiriti-based
programmes. Their leadership was evident not only during meetings but also
between meetings. Both D and Alison were the designated leaders who were
responsible for managing day-to-day processes (Cardno & Reynolds, 2009), but
more importantly, they were the leaders responsible for implementing Tiriti-based
curriculum at their centres. Hayden and Gibson (2000) state that:
… leadership refers to vision and influence. By vision we mean the
foresight, imagination and commitment to devise new and better ways;
and by influence we refer to the capacity to motivate others to participate
in the realisation of the vision. (p. ii)
D provided passion and commitment, thereby empowering her group in
displaying persistency with Tiriti-based actions. The role that D played in keeping
the team focused was based on her beliefs and her commitment that she articulated
to me about the value of Tiriti-based curriculum:
The bicultural curriculum must be implemented (Jl: CJ, 7/7/04).
Passionate-orientated leaders can, therefore, be change agents. If the
passionate person has an orbit of influence that is greater than one centre then
theoretically transformations can occur across more than one centre. Being in a
195