Transcript
Mason Durie – Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori, Massey University
There’s a body of knowledge called Mātauranga Māori, which is a type of indigenous knowledge. And I don’t think New Zealand really has realised the benefit of that body of knowledge in a number of areas, including education. So although we have adapted the educational process to include a number of Māori cultural celebrations, such as the pōwhiri, what we haven’t done sufficiently is to go a bit deeper than that and look at whether there are other ways in which we may use time and space; and develop relationships that are based on Māori knowledge. And how those ideas might then be infused into the education policy and practice so that New Zealand has the chance to develop an educational system that reflects the combination of educational theory and Mātauranga Māori.