Te Noho Kotahitanga: Putting the ‘Critical’ Back in Biculturalism

Abstract

This dissertation discusses biculturalism in the public imagination and how it is represented in public policy, particularly in a tertiary educational context. Critical, decolonising, and Kaupapa Māori theories are drawn from to articulate a critical approach to biculturalism. Critical biculturalism, as it is developed in this dissertation, teases out four key strands: the indigenous-settler relationship; decolonizing practice (including conscientisation of indigenous and settler ‘minds’; Māori cultural (epistemological and ontological) legitimacy; and the interrogation and transformation of structures and power relations. These strands frame a positive critique of biculturalism as it is articulated in policy at Unitec. Unitec, an Auckland based tertiary institution, has formulated a Māori Success Strategy that articulates aspirations of becoming “[a] bicultural institution of technology operating in a multicultural environment” (Unitec Institute of Technology, 2011, p. 2). This critique aims to offer insights to further advance Unitec’s vision. Three key aspects to a Critical Biculturalism are: 1. That it must open up the space within the mainstream for Kaupapa Māori to advance Māori aspirations and other important ideas about a New Zealand nationhood. 2. That it stresses the need for partnership between Māori and Pākehā, rather than the separation of one group from the other. 3. That participatings engage with the notion of difference and are prepared to question, be questioned, and to become uncomfortable, within an environment where concepts of utu, manaaki and even aroha are practiced.