kaupapa Māori

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the largest growing cohort of Māori engaging in tertiary education at degree level is mature Māori women. For most Māori beginning university there are consider­able challenges to achieving a university-level education and qualification. This paper reports on a study that used Kaupapa Māori and Mana Wāhine research approaches to give voice to five mature Māori women who shared aspects of their first year at university, highlighting the cul­tural dissonance they experienced and how they overcame the challenges they faced as students.

This article examines the use of kaupapa Māori and Pan-Pacific research methodologies within Aotearoa New Zealand and considers the tensions in navigating both of these methodologies simultaneously. The paper suggests that the “Give Way Rule” can be used in order to address some of these tensions and to ensure that research is carried out in a way that is respectful and culturally sensitive.

This article provides a brief synopsis of using kaupapa Māori approaches in initiating my doctoral research and collecting the data through interviews. I examine these approaches from four different aspects. The first discusses whanaungatanga as a recruitment methodology. Additional topics explored include tikanga Māori and accessing knowledge. The second considers the insider–outsider relationship and the advantages or disadvantages of holding either position.

With vocation level programmes of the tertiary sector in Aotearoa New Zealand entering a new era of strategic visioning, one of the aims for educators is to seek ways to improve the educational engagement and success of Māori learners. Revitalising Māori teaching and learning pedagogies, like the tuakana–teina pedagogy, has been touted as a positive strategy for educators to achieve such interactions with their Māori learners. In doing so, we are prompted to remember the deeds of magical Māui, the teina of the Māui brothers of ancient Māori mythology.