Doctoral Projects

Liana Catherine MacDonald (Liana Catherine MacDonald), Victoria University of Education

My research focuses squarely on a Māori perspective of the mainstream education system and is concerned with teachers' pedagogical practices and understandings of how to implement the English curriculum through the teaching of text.  The study also highlights the significant challenges of operating in such an environment too.

Tracey Takuira (Te Arawa, Matātua, Ngāpuhi, Tainui), Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Whakatane

Taonga species or customary materials such as Kuta/Paopao (Eleocharis sphacelata), Harakeke (Phormium tenax,), Pīngao (Desmoschoenus spiralis), Tī Kōuka (Cordyline australis), Raupō (Typha orientalis), Toetoe (Cortaderia spp.), (Scheele, 2010a, Herbert, & Oliphant, 1991) as well as many more natural resources, are significant to the cultural identity of Māori people. For example, “the exercise of kaitiaki responsibilites towards these taonga species and their environment, is a fundamental aspect of Māori culture, and kaitaki relationships are important sources of identity” (Waitangi Tribunal, 2011).

This PhD offers a re-examination of the tikanga of ahikā—traditionally understood as a metaphor for sustained occupation—by exploring the literal fires that burned on hapū lands. Through investigating the diverse uses of fire by Māori ancestors (for warmth, kai, light, and communication), this research reveals a richer, more refined understanding of ahikā and its significance as a tikanga rooted not only in metaphor but lived, material practice.