Haere tahi tāua: an account of aitanga in Maori struggle for schooling

Abstract

The thesis has placed an emphasis on Kaupapa Maori analytical approaches in order to explain the way relationships between Maori and Pakeha were formed. Highlighted from such an approach has been the central theme of aitanga. The aitanga theme becomes the stage for 'telling another account' of New Zealand historical narratives where it refocuses the lens to find Maori characterized as main actors, rather than as subordinate props to the way the drama of past events and schooling unfolded in Maori society. Issues examined in the thesis using the idea of aitanga, centred on two key players viz. the Church and the State. How those two major players dealt with Maori interests in schooling is told through a description and an analysis of mission schools and Maori boarding schools (particularly girls' boarding schools). Success in schooling is measured in the thesis by using Maori frameworks to gauge progress.