Māori and education

Te Wāhanga has been working with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR) on a project about future food technologies and Māori well-being. It explored the question of how can dialogue with diverse Māori communities suport sustainable decision-making on future food technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, sustainable agriculture and functional foods. Working with kaupapa Māori principles, we interviewed Māori scientists, government workers and whānau.

NZCER Conference Proceedings August 2010

This book is the proceedings from the NZCER conference, Assessing Adult Learning: Literacy and Numeracy Competencies, held in Wellington in August 2010. The day was focused on assessment in literacy and numeracy, at individual, organisational, national and international levels. It also explored the role of the new national assessment tool for adult learners, which was made available earlier in 2010.

Māori and Pasifika students are over represented amongst students who are underachieving in school science.  New Zealand's science curriculum aims to be inclusive of these students and to that end suggests contexts for learning that take account of different types of life experiences.  While equity is intended, such approaches may stereotype students, appropriate their cultural backgrounds, and alienate them from experiences of school science learning that could encourage their subsequent participation in science-related careers and/or democratic debates.