Projects

Over 30 years ago when Professor Russell Bishop started teaching he was struck by a single question: Why did so many Māori students start out well but fail as they went through school?

This research study canvassed Māori opinion at flax-roots level on the idea that te reo Māori, their language, be shared by all New Zealanders. A wide range of views and various types of data  were gathered, and the response to the question of whether Maori could be considered a language for all New Zealanders signalled an affirmative response. However, support was not unanimous and many held reservations about this move.

Outputs
Journal articles

This research project focused on Māori youth and documenting their social territories using multi-media visual data generated by the participants, in conjunction with wānanga and university-based practitioners and students in photography and film media. The researchers employed new methods in visual sociology and worked collaboratively with Māori youth and their iwi communities.

Efforts have been made to develop protocols for the use and handling of blood samples, but at the time of this study starting, the formation of guidelines that take into account the needs and views of Māori had not been completed.

This project focused on kaiako literacy instruction practices and tauira learning pertaining to reading comprehension and Māori vocabulary development. It involved five Kura Kaupapa Māori schools located in rural communities or small rural townships.

Conscious of the lack of serious inquiry into Kapa Haka, the CEO of Te Matatini Inc, the National Organisation for Kapa Haka in Aotearoa New Zealand approached Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (NPM), to make a start on rectifying this situation.