Researcher(s):
Kara Scherer
ENVS course(s): Initiated: March 2015 Completed: December 2015 Go to project site
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Framing: How can schools incorporate culturally appropriate material into their curriculum without essentializing cultural specifics?
Essentialism is “the view that categories have an underlying reality or true nature that one cannot observe directly but that gives an object its identity” (Gelman 2003). New Zealand is striving to become a bicultural nation to honor the native Maori people and the Treaty of Waitangi, a contract signed by the Crown and Maori Chiefs in 1840. In order to do this, Maori culture is embedded in the national curriculum standards, and there is a push to revitalize the te reo Maori language. However, many teachers don't feel comfortable being an authority figure on Maori culture or language, and as a result some students have been learning fragments of the language not necessarily relevant or applicable to culture.
Focus: How does the fragmentation of te reo Maori affect the public perception of Maori culture?
I spent three months in the fall of 2015 doing research on place-based education, and that research guided my interest to the prevalence of Maori culture in New Zealand schools. I visited seven different schools in three cities, observed classrooms, interviewed teachers and students, and attended governmental and cultural events.
Gelman, Susan A. The essential child: Origins of essentialism in everyday thought. Oxford University Press, USA, 2003.