INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: EMANCIPATORY POSSIBILITIES IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT - Colleen McMurchy-Pilkington

Oct 15, 2026

The article argues that emancipatory possibilities for Māori in New Zealand depend on structural changes that give them control over resources, decision-making, and the production of meaning. It frames emancipation as a journey pursued by oppressed groups as they exercise collective agency. Using the 1990s development of Pängarau, the national mathematics curriculum policy in Māori, the article analyzes how state curriculum structures shifted toward greater Māori control in curriculum writing while earlier systems marginalized Māori language and culture.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Emancipation, collective agency, and structural change

Historical and policy context

Colonisation and marginalisation of Māori language and culture

Resistance through schooling and curriculum protest

Research question and approach

Agency and accommodation in curriculum development

Case study: development of Pängarau in the early 1990s

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: EMANCIPATORY POSSIBILITIES IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Colleen McMurchy‐Pilkington Ngati Pikiao, Nagati Rongomai1 University of Auckland In this article, I argue that emancipatory possibilities for Mäori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, rely on structural changes that enable them to have control over resources, decision making, and meaning, and that emancipation is a journey traveled by oppressed groups as they exercise their collective agency. The 1990s development of Pängarau, the national mathematics curriculum policy in the medium of Mäori, provides the context for this discussion. Recent developments indicate that state structures have shifted towards giving Mäori more control in curriculum writing. Key words: collective agency, state structures, Indigenous curriculum development, New Zealand education, Mäori education, mathematics education, Dans cet article, l’auteure soutient que les possibilités d’émancipation des Maori, le peuple autochtone de la Nouvelle‐Zélande, reposent sur des changements structuraux qui leur permettent d’avoir la haute main sur des ressources, la prise dedécisions et l’orientation générale et que l’émancipation est un chemin parcouru par des groupes opprimés qui exercent une action collective. L’élaboration dans les années 1990 de Pängarau, le curriculum national de mathématiques en maori, fournit le contexte de l’analyse présentée ici. Des faits récents indiquent que les structures del’État évoluent vers la remise d’un contrôle accru aux Maori pour ce qui est del’élaboration des programmes d’études. Mots clés : action collective, structures étatiques, élaboration de programmes d’études par des autochtones, éducation en Nouvelle‐Zélande, éducation dispensée aux Maori, enseignement des mathématiques 1Tribal affiliations of the author CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 31, 3 (2008): 614‐638 Mäori are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa1 New Zealand. Pakeha (non‐Mäori) achieved dominance during the early years of colonisation in the 1800s. Colonisation processes and the education system rejected Mäori language and culture because they were deemed to be obstacles for the educational and social progress of Mäori. Mäori‐Pakeha social relations since then have largely been typified by Pakeha dominance. Mäori as a group have been marginalised through legislation and educa‐ tional policies, although some Mäori became implicated in their own hegemonic positioning. Mäori have not always been compliant or passive recipients of these policies; like Indigenous peoples around the globe, they had “well‐ developed strategies of resistance” (Stewart‐Harawira, 2005, p. 81) . Although Mäori eagerly sent their children to European‐based schools to learn new knowledge and skills to enhance their own knowledge base, they were also active in writing to the provincial, and later the central, Education Department to protest the moralising and manual nature of the curriculum taught to their children (Simon, & Smith, 1998) . Groups of Mäori parents have throughout the years raised their voices about the absence of Mäori knowledge in the curriculum and the marginalisation of their language from formal schooling (Adams, Clarke, Codd, O’Neill, Openshaw, & Waitere‐Ang, 2001; Durie, 1998; Simon, 1990) . The 1970s saw the reassertion of traditional pedagogies and values become central strategies of resistance by Mäori groups (Stewart‐ Harawira, 2005) . By the 1980s a strong movement had emerged for the renaissance of Mäori language and culture. Smith (2003) alleges that Mäori conscientization witnessed “a shift away from [Mäori] wanting things to be done to them, to doing things for themselves; a shift away from an emphasis on reactive politics to and an emphasis on being more proactive” (p. 2) . The state supported this renaissance at one level through being more inclusive and consultative with Mäori, but at another level few if any major structural changes occurred, that is, changes in t

FAQs

Why does the article link emancipation to structural changes in curriculum development?

It argues that emancipation for Māori relies on structural changes that enable control over resources, decision-making, and meaning, rather than only individual or cultural adjustment.

What role does Pängarau play in the discussion?

Pängarau is used as the central context: it was developed in the 1990s as the national mathematics curriculum policy in the medium of Māori.

How does the article define “agency” and “accommodation” in national curriculum policy development?

Agency is reflection and action that consciously or unconsciously challenges and contests formal structures to bring about changes. Accommodation is willingness to adjust one’s actions in response to others’ needs, or to enable change without major structural transformation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Alexandar