Te Mahere Rautaki Māori Strategic Plan 2010-2014

VISION STATEMENT

A knowing whānau is a healthy whānau

This plan sits alongside the current NZCER Strategic Plan with the purpose of assisting the organisation to fulfil its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and enabling Te Wāhanga to achieve its strategic intent.

FOUR KEY CONCEPTS GUIDE THE GOAL AND OBJECTIVE SETTING OF TE WĀHANGA

Mana Atua

Te Wāhanga believes in the spirit of care and concern. We demonstrate this through encouraging workplace practice that is warm, honest and respectful, and is clear in its intent to achieve the best outcomes possible.

Mana Tangata

Te Wāhanga provides an environment of collaboration that takes account of and respects all views and expertise ¬of colleagues, advisors, and others with whom we engage in the course of our work.

Mana Mātauranga

Te Wāhanga produces high quality work that reflects analytical excellence and professionalism and demonstrates thinking and language, including te reo rangatira, that contributes to improving and enhancing educational and developmental outcomes for Māori.

Mana Whenua

Te Wāhanga works to build and strengthen the foundation for Māori education and development in Aotearoa mindful of the responsibility and accountability to whānau, hapu, iwi, and to Māori as tangata whenua.

BACKGROUND

Te Mahere Rautaki Māori sets the strategic direction of Te Wāhanga and builds on and formalises how NZCER intends to makes a greater strategic contribution to Māori educational and developmental outcomes. Te Wāhanga will also play a critical role in strengthening NZCER's cross-organisational expertise in order to achieve an integrated and aligned approach to deepening its work in Māori education and development.

UNDERSTANDING MĀORI EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Te Wāhanga views Māori education and development as the intergenerational transfer of knowledge - which includes knowledge content, the method of knowledge transfer, and the ability of Māori to be in a position to determine what is transferred and how. Māori education and development is about Māori having the authority (rangatiratanga) to determine what is valued as knowledge, what is worthy of transfer, and what will best contribute to whānau health and wellbeing. It is also about recognising and affirming Māori cultural institutions, including whānau and marae, and the role they play in Māori education.

Te Wāhanga and NZCER are in a unique position — as the national independent, educational research organisation of Aotearoa — to make a strong and critical contribution to Māori education and development, and through this, to whānau health and wellbeing.

STRATEGIC INTENT

To produce quality and critical kaupapa Māori educational research that contributes to the wellbeing of Māori through:

• Working alongside Māori communities, and
• Ensuring an integrated approach to the Māori educational research work of NZCER.

PRIORITY AREAS

1. Research

Māori education, learning and development; success for Māori learners, whanau, communities and teachers in education and learning; work in and further develop the field of kaupapa Māori research and evaluation.

2. Professional resources

Resource development and products and services for the Māori education sector, including community education.

3. Independent information and advice

Using research-informed expertise to make an authoritative contribution to current education debates, including policy and practice issues in the interests of Māori.

STRATEGIC INTENTION 1

Work with Māori communities to produce research which supports and inspires transformative practices in Māori education, learning and development.

In 2010-2014 Te Wahanga will:

• Put the interests of Māori communities at the forefront of all work in Māori education, learning and development.
• Consolidate and build Te Wahanga as a critical, independent collective, producing high quality kaupapa Māori educational research, resources and advice.
• Build relationships with Māori education and research communities.
• Contribute to building new knowledge in Māori education, learning and development through research, resources and advice in the priority areas.

STRATEGIC INTENTION 2

NZCER's work in Māori educational research and resource development is making a significant contribution to whanau health and wellbeing.

In 2010-2014 the organisation will:

• Increase the breadth and depth of NZCER's activities that contribute to positive outcomes in Māori education, learning and development.
• Consistently produce high quality Māori educational research and professional resources.
• Develop and engage a practice of Te Tiriti o Waitangi-based workplace learning to build a strong cross-organisational capacity to contribute to Māori education.

STRATEGIC INTENTION 3

Effective national and international relationships with Māori, Pacific Peoples and other Indigenous researchers, communities and organisations.

In 2010-2014 Te Wahanga and the organisation as a whole will:

• Take a strategic approach to establishing and maintaining connections with Māori, Pacific Peoples and other Indigenous researchers, communities and organisations that result in outcome-driven partnerships.
• Contribute to building the research capability within Māori communities through collaborative work.
• Maintain a regular forum or event that contributes to building connections across Māori, Pacific Peoples and Indigenous communities.
• Work with whanau, hapu and iwi to establish research and evaluation services that will assist them in developing and meeting their educational, learning and development goals.

APPENDIX

As an organisation we value:

Our independence. As a national organisation with no formal ties to government or private organisations, we stand our own ground and speak with a confident, authoritative voice.

Our New Zealand identity. We have an international reputation and strong networks but are firmly located in New Zealand. Partnership with Māori is integral to everything we do and is built on our shared responsibility and accountability to Māori. This commitment is demonstrated throughout our work programme.

Education. At the heart of everything we do is a belief in education. We strongly believe an excellent education system should help provide equitable outcomes for all, and foster learning throughout life.

As an organisation we value research and professional resources that:

Generates new knowledge about education. All our research and evaluative work should generate new ideas. We are committed to providing evidence that will improve the educational chances of our diverse population and we want to generate transformative ideas and models to support the development of a 21st century education system.

Are relevant and have impact. We work on educational questions that are of strategic importance to New Zealand. A primary goal of our work programme is to inform the thinking and to influence the decision-making of practitioners, policy-makers, politicians, and parents. We want people to know about, understand and use our work.

Are innovative and forward looking. We run a robust research and development programme and a professional publishing arm, NZCER Press, which enables the organisation to be at the leading edge of educational thinking and to anticipate the needs of the education sector for innovative ideas, resources and services.

Are of high quality. Our high national and international standing in both research and publishing is important to us. We achieve excellence by meeting peer review standards; we also have our own quality assurances processes which draw on the expertise of staff and are strengthened by our team-based environment. We foster a work culture in which all staff are continually learning.

As an organisation we value working in ways that are:

Respectful. We are, keen listeners, seeking to be responsive to the needs and interests of all communities and cultures. Ongoing relationships are important to us. We take responsibility for providing feedback to our stakeholders at all stages of our work. We appreciate that we have much to learn from those we work with and that we can also help others build educational capability.

Transparent. We are clear about the understandings and assumptions we bring to our work. We continue to examine and reflect on them in our work with each other and with all our stakeholders.

Collaborative. Our work is undertaken collectively and we build a work programme which is cohesive and connected. We place a priority on purposeful collaborations, seeking to complement and support the work of other researchers and evaluators nationally and internationally.

Source: NZCER, Strategic Plan 2008-2011, pp. 2-3.