The status of Te Ātiawa histories of place in Port Nicholson Block (Wellington, Hutt Valley) secondary schools: Some research findings

Abstract

Introduction This article draws upon doctoral research (Manning, 2008) to discuss the status of Te Atiawa tribal knowledge in 24 Port Nicholson Block (Wellington and Hutt Valley) secondary schools' history classes. (1) The article firstly considers the potential benefits of adopting a critical pedagogy of place and place-based education (PBE). It then discusses my research findings in relation to the research participants' (a) experiences of cultural continuity and discontinuity experienced in their familial and secondary school settings when learning about the past; (b) preferences in relation to history topics; and (c) perceptions regarding the benefits of, and barriers to, a potential PBE partnership between local Te Atiawa people and the participating schools. In conclusion, tuna (eels) inhabiting the Waitangi Stream, now piped below the busy streets of central Wellington city, provide a metaphor for the argument that Te Atiawa and other tribal histories should be resurfaced in Port Nicholson Block secondary schools, much as lower reaches of that stream have been resurfaced--following careful consultation. An hinaki (eel trap) metaphor is also applied to describe the barriers obstructing teacher participants from engaging in a PBE partnership with Te Atiawa. These barriers are then related to the Ministry of Education's The New Zealand Curriculum (2007), the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840) and the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal (2004, p. 740). The research objectives and methodology in their local (historical) settings My doctoral research was conducted following the release of the Waitangi Tribunal's (2003) Te Whanganui a Tara me ona Takiwa report which investigated the Crown's alienation of tribal lands and other resources in the Port Nicholson Block area. (2) My research was not designed to critique the tribunal's report, or to comment on the role of the Wellington Tenths Trust (3) in the presentation of claims central to that report. Instead, it explored how participants viewed the teaching of local, Maori, environmental and New Zealand histories, particularly in relation to their own life experiences of learning about past and Nine Te Atiawa adults selected from a pool of potential expert interviewees nominated by the Wellington Tenths Trust participated in this research. Nine senior history teachers (eight Pakeha), who volunteered to take part in this research with the permission of their employers, also participated. Both groups of participants were invited to individually reflect upon cultural continuities and discontinuities they experienced in relation to how local, New Zealand and Maori histories were taught in their familial and secondary school settings. They were also asked what topics they felt should be taught in Port Nicholson Block secondary schools today. In addition, a survey was developed to identify topics taught in Port Nicholson Block schools in 2005. These results were related to a survey conducted that same year by the New Zealand History Teachers' Association (NZHTA). The NZHTA survey produced 126 responses to questions regarding topics taught at NCEA levels 1-2, while 121 respondents responded to a question about level 3 topics. Generally speaking, my survey findings support those of the NZHTA. Both surveys indicate that Maori content was often sidestepped, and this has major political implications. The need for a critical pedagogy of place The Waitangi Tribunal, in its (2004) report on the Turanganui a Kiwa (Gisborne) claims, called for New Zealanders to possess a greater consciousness of historical memory of place. It concluded (p. 740) that: We cannot help but think that the unsettled state of relations between Maori and Pakeha in this country is in part due to the fact that these stories are remembered only by tangata whenua and a few historians who specialise in New Zealand history. …