Whatu: Weaving Māori Women Educators’ Pedagogy.

Abstract

Whatu was the starting point for a metaphor that emerged as a representation of three Maori women educators’ pedagogy. The Whatu metaphor was developed as a way of understanding the complexities of the Maori women’s pedagogy and to show that the strength of that pedagogy is in the interweaving of the strands. Concepts of Maori pedagogy are becoming more accessible in Aotearoa/ New Zealand: for example, the notion of ako as a means of explaining the connectedness of learning and teaching; and tuakana-teina as a form of peer support and learning. However, the pedagogy that umbrellas those two concepts is less accessible and was the subject of a small kaupapa Maori research project involving three Maori women educators. In response to a research question: ‘What is Maori women educators’ pedagogy?’ this article describes the Whatu metaphor; a metaphor that represents the research participants’ pedagogical ways of being, knowing and doing, and advances a new way of viewing Maori women educators’ pedagogy.