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

Support from someone knowledgeable with Māori culture who can work
with you in the programme. Sometimes the fear - Am I pronouncing it
right? It‟s easier not to do it if there‟s no-one pushing and encouraging
you (Int: B, 13/3/09).
Alison perceived that her role as head teacher was to encourage Brodie to
implement Tiriti-based curriculum. She had to be the one to lead:
to be the one who said „let‟s be brave and try‟. It was important to make
the first steps and invite others to participate (Email: A, 24/2/09).
However, in order to have someone be a leader, there needs to be people
who are followers. As Sergiovanni (1992, p. 71) states “followers are people
committed to purposes, a cause, a vision of what the school is and can become,
beliefs about teaching and learning, values and standards to which they adhere, and
convictions”. Alison appreciated that Brodie was willing to be a follower:
Thank goodness Brodie is motivated also, as this makes the job so much
easier (and fun) (Jl: A, 1/6/04).
Thus it is necessary to have people who will be followers of leaders in
order to ensure that ideas have a greater chance of becoming auctioned. As
Sergiovanni (1992, p. 85) noted:
[It is] not just personality that counts. At least equally important is the
leader's ability to establish a climate of trust and a sense of integrity in
the ideas being proposed. Key to this effort is something worth
following. Without ideas, values, and commitments, there can be no
followership. Without followership, there can be no leadership.
However, being the designated leader, such as being the supervisor of the
area, did not necessarily mean that person was the leader for Tiriti-based
curriculum. I observed in Case Study Three that although Nilmini was the
supervisor, Shani had more knowledge, resources, confidence, and fluency in te reo
Māori, because at the time of the research she was in her final year of study for her
early childhood qualification. Having a strong knowledge base of Tiriti-based
practices was in this instance an important aspect of leadership. It also meant
Shani could utilise her lecturer at her tertiary institution for additional Māori
knowledge.
It was to Shani, therefore, that the team, including Nilmini, looked to
enhance their understanding of Tiriti-based pedagogy. Although it could appear as
expedient for the team to ask Shani, I observed it was more than her accessibility to
her lecturer‟s knowledge that mattered; her role of expert, or leader of Tiriti-based
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