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

(64%, n=39) rating themselves as lacking confidence; the mode for reporting
confidence in speaking in te reo Māori was 2 on a five-point scale (n=33, 43%) and
a further 21% (n=16) rated themselves below that level of confidence.
However, that statistic means that of the remaining 15% (n=11) rated
themselves more positively. Specifically, 9 respondents (12%) rated themselves at
level 4, and of these 3 were Māori and 6 were New Zealand European. Both
respondents who rated themselves at level 5 were Māori (n=2, 3%). This finding
about level 4 is both interesting and encouraging because it suggests there is a
gradual shift by Pākehā teachers towards demonstrating greater comfort, but not
necessarily total fluency, in te reo Māori. This finding, to a lesser extent, also
verifies that when something positive is implemented in an educational setting to
nurture intentional change, staff are generally responsive. This was especially
illustrated in Case Study Two, where confidence grew for both teachers (i.e. the
leader and the person being led) throughout the research. Alison, the head teacher
who had become noticeably more confident as she reclaimed her prior knowledge
of te reo Māori, wrote in her journal:
I have noticed Brodie now uses the greeting „Kia ora‟ also when
answering the phone. This shows how she has gained confidence with
moving ahead with using te reo (Jl: A, 2/9/04).
I do not doubt the authenticity of Alison‟s claim which is consistent with
my own observations of Brodie‟s developing confidence. (However, it should also
be noted that the greeting kia ora has become increasingly commonplace.)
An issue emerged for Māori about role modelling te reo Māori. Māori are
not homogeneous as a people and neither are their viewpoints. As one respondent
noted, not all Māori families wanted te reo Māori to be spoken at their early
childhood education centre:
We try to incorporate bicultural values but not having a native speaker or
many Māori families things don‟t always work out. Some of our Māori
families tell us that if they wanted tikanga me te reo Māori they would
send their child to a Kōhanga Reo (R. 112).
This response was similar to what I was told by Māori at the He Tirohanga
Karearea Conference in Hawkes Bay in 2004 when I spoke informally to other
attendees about my struggle with speaking te reo Māori correctly. They also
suggested that if fluent te reo Māori was wanted parents would send their children
to Kōhanga Reo. Clearly, a tension exists for teachers: the majority are not fluent
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