Abstract:
This research examines the status of Te Atiawa historical knowledge in Port Nicholson Block secondary schools.(1) It uses the metaphor of tuna (eels) inhabiting the Waitangi Stream in Central Wellington (now pumped underground) to argue that Te Atiawa histories of place need to be resurfaced in local schools, much as the Waitangi Stream has been resurfaced at Waitangi Park. A pre-interview questionnaire enables nine Te Atiawa
experts and nine senior history teachers to reflect upon the cultural continuities and discontinuities they experienced when learning about history in familial and secondary school settings. A series of elite interviews also encourages the participants to discuss the dominance of Pakeha grand narrative accounts of New Zealand, local and Maori history.
A survey of unit topics taught in 24 Port Nicholson Block secondary school history and social studies classes, meanwhile, provides a snap-shot of topics taught in local history and social studies classes in 2005. These survey results are compared with those of a nationwide survey conducted by the New Zealand History Teachers' Association (2005).
Te Atiawa interviewees experienced higher levels of cultural discontinuity than their teacher counterparts. Though the Te Atiawa interviewees' relatives employed a holistic view of history and frequently used landscapes, flora and fauna to serve as historical texts, their teachers (like the teacher participants' relatives and teachers) were less inclined to do so. The Te Atiawa interviewees, moreover, believed their teachers held stereotypical
views of Maori historical figures and events. Only one teacher shared similar concerns about the stereotyping of Maori. Some teachers, however, did value familial narratives and particularistic (e.g. local) knowledge. Consequently, these teachers, like their Te Atiawa counterparts, experienced some degree of cultural discontinuity when Eurocentric forms of universalistic knowledge were accorded greater status than the particularistic knowledge of their families and/or local communities. This research, moreover, indicates that Te Atiawa histories of place are still rendered
largely invisible in Port Nicholson Block secondary schools' history and social studies classes. Skills associated with GIS mapping and visual, ecological and optimal functional literacy, also appear to be undervalued. Additionally, most of the teacher participants know little about the tribes inhabiting the area they work in and their topic preferences
reflect their feelings of disconnectedness. However, the teacher participants are generally
supportive of the potential development of a place-based education partnership between the participating schools and local Te Atiawa people.
While the Te Atiawa interviewees want meaningful input into the design and delivery of a partnership model, the teachers feel unable to fulfil these wishes. Insufficient professional development opportunities, resource constraints, professional rivalries, student/parental prejudices and timetable constraints are all cited by the teachers as hurdles to be overcome. Consequently, the Te Atiawa interviewees remain alienated from local secondary schools, while the teacher participants feel trapped in an institutional secondary school culture that I
liken, metaphorically, to a hinaki (eel trap). Given the barriers that separate the two groups of participants, this research concludes with recommendations for the consideration of all
interested parties.
(1) There are variations in the naming of this tribal grouping. In addition to Te Atiawa, the names Te Ati Awa and Ngati Awa have also been used to describe the same tribal grouping. I have followed the advice of the principal historian of the Wellington Tenths Trust and used the name Te Atiawa throughout this research.
