Culture Counts Changing Power Relations in Education

Educational policies and practices in most Western countries were developed and continue to be developed within a framework of colonialism - a context of epistemological racism that is fundamentally embedded in the dominant culture. The model for addressing cultural diversity that is presented in this book is based on an indigenous Kaupapa Maori response to the dominant discourse within New Zealand. It promotes self-determination as a metaphor for power sharing and aims to advance educational outcomes and life opportunities for Maori children. The classroom is a place where young people's sense-making process (cultures) are incorporated and enhanced, where the existing knowledges of young people are seen as acceptable and official, and where the teacher seeks to co-create new knowledge with students. This analysis of the aspirations and experiences of the Maori people of New Zealand should be of interest to educators around the world who are attempting to develop culturally relevant pedagogies.