A Te Arawa E! An iwi perspective of Māori student success

Abstract

The Ka Awatea project has aimed to define and explain success from a Te Arawa worldview, referencing the ancestor, Ihenga, as a model. Whilst various Ministry of Education policies, including Ka Hikitia, have stipulated that Māori students should experience success “as Māori”, none have explained what “success” might look like for Māori students, whānau and communities. This project put Te Arawatanga – by way of the qualities of Ihenga – at the centre of a conceptualisation of “Māori student success”. The project has addressed the need for a measure, model and definition of student “success” that is iwi-specific. It has identified the individual, family, school and community conditions that enable Te Arawa students and students being educated in Te Arawa schools to thrive at school and unleash their potential, like the ancestor Ihenga did.