Deputy Head of the University of Canterbury’s (UC) School of Education, Dr Te Hurinui Karaka-Clarke, led the development of The Hikairo Schema for Secondary, Culturally responsive teaching and learning.
“Teachers in all sectors have long been wanting a resource that provides practical strategies to implement culturally responsive pedagogies into their everyday classroom practice,” Dr Karaka-Clarke says.
“The aim of the schema is to provide guidance for teachers and schools on how to implement cultural responsive practices and, as a consequence, improve engagement and educational outcomes for their Māori students.”
The Hikairo Schema for Secondary is the third iteration of the resource designed to provide concrete strategies and examples, built around seven components that embrace and draw on traditions of tikanga (practices/ customs) and uara (values) Māori.
It is a companion to The Hikairo Schema for Primary and The Hikairo Schema: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Education Settings.
Rather than provide an exhaustive number of examples for each component, the resource suggests starter strategies that can be explored and enhanced to suit the teacher and their educational context.
“The schema can also be used to provide teachers who have already begun this journey with a level of guidance or assurance that they are on the right track. While not purposely designed as such, some schools have integrated aspects of the schema into their appraisal programme,” Dr Karaka-Clarke says.
UC is committed to its partnership with mana whenua Ngāi Tūāhuriri and to understanding and embedding mātauranga Māori throughout teaching and the curriculum. Students at UC learn with innovators and leaders in cultural responsiveness, and the education sector benefits from the expertise that is nurtured in UC’s Te Rāngai Ako me te Hauora | College of Education, Health and Human Development, with numerous teaching resources being made available as a result.
Dr Karaka-Clarke collaborated with Jennifer Smith, Matiu Tai Ratima, Angus Hikairo Macfarlane, Sonja Macfarlane, Rachel Maitland, Lisa Davies, Kari Moana Kururangi and Susannah Stevens. The Hikairo Schema for Secondary, Culturally responsive teaching and learning is published by NZCER Press, in conjunction with UC and Tōtaranui Kāhui Ako.
Find out more: The Hikairo Schema for Secondary: Culturally responsive teaching and learning.
Read more: Hikairo Schema for early childhood.
