Treaty of Waitangi and Its Principles Essay
Added on 2020-04-07
11 Pages3328 Words363 Views
Languages and CulturePolitical Science
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1Topic:Student’s Name:University:
2Topic OneWrite an essay outlining what you understand as the advantages and disadvantages ofusing principles instead of the original text of the Treaty. Your essay should also considerwhat the implications of applying Treaty principles to education are?Generally when the question is asked, even to an extremely capable teacher, as to how theteaching practices of that teacher reflects the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles responses in ablank. But then we discuss the question, without the pressure of an interview, it can be realizedthat in fact there are several ways in which the teaching practices of a good teacher reflect theTreaty principles. Therefore, many of us simply fail to understand this question. Although wemay appreciate the significance of the treaty, but on many occasions we do not have theconfidence required to demonstrate our understanding. It is not surprising, particularly in view ofthe fact that there are hardly any Ministry documents that can explain exactly what is themeaning of this question and how the principles look like when they are reflected in teachingpractice (Babadzan, 2000). It has been mentioned in the New Zealand curriculum that, "theTreaty of Waitangi is among the eight principles in the New Zealand curriculum, providing thefoundation for decision-making by schools" (Chapple, 2000). According to the Treaty of Waitangi principles, the students have been placed the center ofteaching and learning. It has also been asserted by these principles that students should
3experience a curriculum, which is capable of engaging and challenging them and at the sametime, such curriculum should be inclusive, forward-looking, as well as in a position to affirm theunique identity of New Zealand (Chapple, 2005). In order to clear the confusion that existsregarding these principles, first of all it is important to look at these principles.These principles are generally referred to as the three "Ps". They are the principles ofpartnership, participation and protection. These principles underpin the relationship that existsbetween the Maori and the government has provided by the Treaty of Waitangi. Hence, theseprinciples have been derived on the underlying tenets of the Treaty of Waitangi. These principlesare used for the purpose of bridging the gap that exists between the little differences that arepresent between the English and the Maori text of the treaty (Clark, 2006).Partnership: The principle of partnership requires working along with the iwi, hapū, whānau andMāori communities for the purpose of developing strategies related with Maori education. Theprinciple of partnership encourages as well as requires that Maori should be involved at all levelsof education sector, which includes planning and development of curriculum and decision-making. In this regard, partnership can be described as engaging with the Maori community;power sharing; equity for Maori; ensuring the presence of modern representatives on boards oftrustees and inquiry-place based learning so that the students may find out about the Maoriorigins of their rivers, mountains and history (Cullen, 2006).In the same way the partnership principle requires that we should welcome and develop genuinerelationships with the Maori community. While historically, it is true that for a large number ofMaori, there were no 'open door' policies and as a result there are many schools where the Maori
4were not welcomed and felt valued. However, sometimes the development of such relationshipstake time and effort. In case of most of the communities, once they start to feel that a genuinerelationship is building, such communities are eager to become a part of school and add expertise(Delvin, 2006). The principle of partnership also requires that the schools should support all thestudents in understanding the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi in the history of NewZealand. It also needs to be acknowledged that everybody has their own rights andresponsibilities as the citizens and the Treaty has provided the Maori with the duo set of rights inthe form of tangata whenua. Similarly the special place enjoyed by the Maori culture in the Society of New Zealand, which isa multicultural society that is underpinned by bicultural foundations, also needs to beacknowledged. In this way, the treaty principle of partnership is beneficial for all the learners.This principle harnesses the expertise and knowledge of different people who can make acontribution in the learning of the students including the families as well as the iwi, whānau andother community members (D’Souza, 1992). Partnership is realized when the schools collaboratewith the Maori as well as the non-Maori for the purpose of developing, implementing andreviewing policies and practices and procedures. In this way, when schools work collaboratively,they learn to share control, power and decision-making and at the same time, validating theunique position of Maori as the tangata whenua and also to recognize the contribution that hasbeen made by the Maori in education. At the same time, it is encouraged that the schools weshould form a partnership with the local iwi and hapu under the efforts made to engage with theMaori community (Eder, 1993).The next principle in the three "Ps" of the Treaty of Waitangi is protection. In this context,, theprinciple of protection can be described as providing active protection to Maori interests,
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