Colonialism, Māori Early Childhood, Language, and the Curriculum

Abstract

This Chapter unsettles Māori language in education generally, and in the early childhood curriculum particularly, its historical antecedents, and government leaden-footed policies (Waitangi Tribunal, Pre-publication Waitangi Tribunal report 2336: Matua Rautia: the report on the Kōhanga Reo claim. Waitangi Tribunal, Wellington, 2012) in a colony which still is colonizing. It troubles some of the norms of Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education, Te Whāriki: he whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: early childhood curriculum. Learning Media, Wellington, 1996; Ministry of Education, Te Whāriki: he whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: early childhood curriculum. Ministry of Education, Wellington, 2017) (Te Whāriki) and provides further ideological clarification around what has come to be known as kaupapa Māori (praxis, pedagogy, power and curriculum). It provides a challenge to curriculum in the early years, a challenge to the hegemonic norm, countering dominant discourses and contesting universalization, raising questions about the relationality of language to the curriculum. It promotes a re-framing of the curriculum through a Māori (see Glossary) pedagogical frame as a resistance to the displacement/replacement theory brought about through colonization. It argues that te rangatiratanga o te reo (the sovereignty of the Māori language to Māori culture) is not just about resistance to injustice and the inversion of colonial rule, but the assertion of Māori sovereignty through Māori language in “our place,” all of it and everywhere. It is a reassertion of the legitimation and authority of te reo Māori and the rights of children to live te reo Māori, to live its history, its future, its identity, its world-views, its values, its symbolism, and its spirit. This chapter remains interested in the politics and policy environment while concentrating on our Māori children – our greatest allies in the Māori language revitalization endeavor.