Paper short abstract:

New Zealand has a long way to go to support Māori community-led or place-based education that nurtures connections between young Māori and their ancestral marae. This paper discusses young Māori and community views about strengthening connections and increasing learning about marae and identity.

Paper long abstract:

Since 2022, the New Zealand secondary education curriculum has made the teaching of our country’s history compulsory. The policy aims to help all children understand more about places and people who have lived in Aotearoa over time. New Zealand has a long way to go, however, in enabling and supporting community-led or place-based education that nurtures connections between young Māori and their ancestral marae.

This paper discusses findings from a three year research project that examined young Māori views about how to strengthen connections and increase learning about their marae, especially those who live away from ancestral homelands.

We undertook surveys at ten secondary schools throughout the country amongst just under 400 students.

The paper discusses Māori student views on the importance but also challenges of the internet and social media as mechanisms to help with learning. It also explores opportunities and challenges of the same from marae community members.

It considers other marae community education initiatives that are not part of formal education but which are significantly impactful for student wellbeing, identity, sense of self and confidence. All these factors are critical to supporting good learning outcomes. While marae community education programmes are micro-level, operated often on small budgets and with volunteer effort, they should have recognition and support within and by mainstream education systems.

The presentation explores some of the reasons why young Māori want to learn more about their distant ancestral homes and concludes with opportunities that schools can further explore as a result of our findings.