Abstract:
The aim of this project is to illuminate and understand the subtleties and intricacies of Pākehā teachers’ practice and personal philosophy in culturally responsive classrooms. It was about identifying what teachers were experiencing in the classroom where culturally responsive practice and pedagogy are considered important factors for increasing student engagement and achievement. This research project is important because classrooms in New Zealand continue to increase in student ethnic and cultural diversity yet remain the same for teacher ethnicity, over 70% self-identify as Pākehā. This is a critical autoethnographical study. Throughout the study my role as the researcher was central as I reflected critically on my own practice through creative writing and craft making in the Te Kotahitanga programme. Collaborative autoethnography was also employed to juxtapose other stories alongside my own. Six secondary teachers, who self-identified as Pākehā, spoke about their practice, pedagogy and personal philosophy in the classroom during two sets of semistructured interviews. The participants, who volunteered, were from the same school. In the analysis phase, creative writing and collaborative stitching were used to further analyse and make sense of the research data, with the researcher in the role of a/r/tographer. This project sought to reveal culturally responsive teacher processes as a way to understand them further, hoping to create a way in for other educators to understand their own experiences further. The study confirmed that there is a need for teachers to know their students as diverse individuals, to be invested in the school’s philosophy and to feel valued in their role as a teacher. However, the unexpected finding in the data revealed that teachers also need to discover and know who they are. They need an opportunity to critically explore their own cultural and ethnic identity before they can fully lead students on their own journeys.
