Te Kotahitanga

Te Kotahitanga was an evidence-based professional development programme that had an explicit focus on raising Māori achievement. Based on Kaupapa Māori theory Te Kotahitanga supports ways that teachers in English-medium classrooms can authentically affirm Māori identity to improve outcomes for Māori learners.

Research shows that students live up to, or down to, expectations and that many of our teachers subconsciously expect less of Māori. The focus of Te Kotahitanga was on changing teacher practices, expectations and beliefs about Māori learners from deficit-based to strengths-based.

Te Kotahitanga had two system-wide outcomes and two school-level outcomes:

System outcomes

i) To raise the participation, engagement and achievement of Māori students and increase their attainment of worthwhile qualifications.

ii) To raise wider system capability so that school leaders, teachers and their communities understand and establish culturally responsive learning contexts.

School outcomes

i) To support teachers in improving Māori student learning and achievement by creating a culturally responsive context for learning based on student evidence.

ii) To enable school leaders, and the wider school community to establish school structures and organisations that support teachers in this endeavour.