Cultural Pedagogy and Transformative Learning: Reflections on Teaching in a Māori Environment in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

This article explores a synergy of inquiry-based learning and a cultural pedagogy within a Māori environment, the marae (communal meeting place) while using Academic Co-Creative Inquiry (ACCI), an innovative approach to teaching and learning which enables teachers and students to cocreate the content and the process of the course through personalized inquiries. Three areas form the focus of this article: an exploration of cultural pedagogy within a marae space, an ACCI process, and the culturally responsive Māori pedagogy of ako (teaching and learning). These three areas created a context for transformative learning. Authors reflect on how three academic women, two Māori and one Pākehā (person of European descent) each explored how the physical space of Ngākau Māhaki (name of the carved meeting house, meaning respectful heart) at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae (name of the marae complex) contributed to transformative teaching and learning processes.

Keywords

cultural pedagogy cultural spaces Māori education multicultural education Marae educational transformation transformative education transformative learning spirituality and social practice tertiary teaching and learning collaborative teaching Māori Pākehā critical reflection Academic Co-Creative Inquiry

Introducing the Authors and Their Contexts

Ksenija Napan is a Pākehā (person of European descent) who chose Aotearoa/New Zealand as her home in 1995. She holds Croatian and New Zealand citizenships and considers herself a citizen of the world with deep resonances with Māori culture. Ksenija coordinated several spirituality and social practice courses at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae. Her innovative pedagogical approach to teaching and learning, the Academic Co-Creative Inquiry (ACCI), was modified to suit the specific context in which the spirituality in social practice course was being taught.

Helene Connor has whakapapa (genealogy) links to Te Atiawa and Ngati Ruanui iwi (tribes). She was a program director for a transdisciplinary Master of Social Practice program, a unique degree bringing together the disciplines of social work, counseling, and community development at postgraduate level. Helene has taught several courses, both undergraduate and postgraduate, at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae.

Lynda Toki has whakapapa (genealogy) links to Maniapoto, Ngati Kinohaku, and Ngati Te Kanawa iwi (tribes). Lynda brought the perspectives of several roles to this article. She is a Kuia (female elder) and Kaiāwhina (advocate) for Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and, as a postgraduate student, she participated in the spirituality and social practice course. Lynda is also a Kaiako (teacher) and has had substantial experience teaching within a marae space.

The three of us constituted a cross-cultural teaching team. This modeled intercultural relatedness and reflected the bicultural nature of Aotearoa/New Zealand while enabling students to learn in a space that amplified cultural awareness. It would be culturally disrespectful and inappropriate for a non-Māori person to facilitate a course in a Māori cultural space on their own.

Korero Whakamārama—Background Information

Aotearoa, meaning “The Land of the Long White Cloud,” is the Māori name for New Zealand, which is situated in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land mass of around 268,680 km² makes it slightly larger than the United Kingdom. The first people to arrive in Aotearoa/New Zealand may have originated from Eastern Polynesia and arrived in a series of migrations between 700 and 2,000 years ago. Over time, these settlers developed into a distinct culture divided into iwi (tribes) and hapu (subtribes), now known as Māori (King, 2003).

Aotearoa/New Zealand has a population of 4.6 million. Most of the country’s population (74%) is of European descent. The indigenous Māori are the largest non-European ethnic group, accounting for 15.5% of the population. Asian ethic groups make up 11.8% of the population and 7.4% of people are of Pacific Island descent. People from Middle Eastern countries, Latin America, and Africa make up 1.0% of the population. The ethnicity percentages come to more than 100% because in Aotearoa people can identify with more than one ethnic group (Statistics NZ, 2015).

Since the Māori Renaissance, a social movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s, there have been significant efforts to revive te reo Māori (Māori language) and tikanga Māori (Māori culture). The Māori language became an official language in 1987 and there are now Māori radio stations, television channels, and Māori cultural events, which showcase traditional Māori performing arts (Keegan, 2017).

Aotearoa/New Zealand is a bicultural country which welcomes multicultural input from new migrants. It is underpinned by a bicultural kaupapa (philosophy), based on the country’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) signed on February 6, 1840, between the British Crown and Tangata Whenua (Māori tribes of Aotearoa). The Treaty must be observed in all areas of social policy. It guarantees sovereignty, equal partnership, and recognition of indigenous people. In this sense, it is a unique document for a country that has been colonized. The political system that has emerged over the last 30 plus years formally recognizes Māori and tauiwi (non-Māori New Zealanders) as distinct but equal partners who share guardianship of many of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s resources and contribute equally to its national identity and culture (Napan & Connor, 2014, p. 80).

The purpose of this article is to describe a culturally responsive pedagogy that has been successful in facilitating transformative learning for advanced practitioners of social practice. We reflect on how three pedagogical elements reinforce each other synergistically—cultural space, reciprocity between the acts of learning and teaching, and the ACCI.

The Importance of Cultural Space—Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae Complex

The development of the urban marae complex (such as the Unitec marae) includes marae (communal meeting places) in schools and tertiary providers and can also be historically and socially contextualized within the Māori Renaissance. A marae complex generally comprises a large open area (the marae ātea), that is typically grassed and dominated by the presence of a large carved house, the whare whakairo, often with the interior being decorated with traditional weaving and carvings. Marae complexes usually include a detached building reserved for cooking and eating. In the context of postcolonial Aotearoa/New Zealand, marae have become one of the last bastions of Māori culture where tikanga Māori (Māori culture) can be practiced (Adds, Hall, Higgins, & Higgins, 2011).

Since the early 1980s, marae complexes have gradually been incorporated into schools and higher learning providers throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand. There has been an acknowledgment that marae can provide an authentic instructional space that enhances quality learning in ways that extend beyond vocational training to learning for self-identity and culture (Adds et al., 2011; Smith, 2012). Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae encompasses five distinct spaces that create an evocative and profound whole: Puukenga, Ngākau Māhaki, Manaaki, Te Rangimarie, and Te Waiunuroa o Wairaka.

Puukenga (repository of knowledge) was the first building on the marae complex. Puukenga was designed to metaphorically incorporate the right and left hemispheres of the brain and the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth (Unitec Institute of Technology, 2017).

The whare whakairo (carved meeting house) Ngākau Māhaki, designed and carved by Te Arawa (tribe from the Rotorua area) tohunga whakaairo (master carver) Lyonel Grant, PhD, is a communal and highly acclaimed space serving educational, spiritual, and social purposes. Tawhiao (Ngai Te Rangi) and their team of weavers worked on creating a series of richly woven panels of harakeke (flax) throughout the house.

The wharekai (dining house), Manaaki (hospitality), was opened in November 2012 and completed the marae complex. Manaaki has been designed to fit into the environment and to link the Whare Whakairo and Puukenga (Unitec Institute of Technology, 2017).

Cultural Pedagogy Within a Marae Space

Engagement with Ngākau Māhaki occurs through tikanga (cultural practices), rituals of encounter via the exploration of its magnificent architecture and the taonga (treasures) contained within (Grbic, 2016). Ngākau Māhaki encompasses a respectful and peaceful heart, representing timelessness within time. Embedding ancestors and telling stories from her walls, projecting the future on her wings, and enlightening everyone who enters with an open heart receptive for transformation. Reciprocity is the key of her existence. Numerous are stories from her beginnings: How multiple lives have been touched and changed by being engaged in carving, fitting, cleaning, singing, or contributing at any level in her creation. In return, she transformed Unitec Institute of Technology and taught its staff how authentic biculturalism can happen and how transformation can be achieved through mutual respect and openheartedness.

Marae have been regarded as strong symbolic cultural pedagogical tools to teach and learn, utilizing a specific Māori forum (Adds et al., 2011). Historically, formal learning would take place in whare wānanga (places of formal higher learning) based at marae and delivered with their own distinctive pedagogies including memorizing extensive historical and cultural information through songs and chants (Adds et al., 2011).

The transformative potential of teaching and learning in a marae space is not unique to Unitec. Ka’ai (2008) argues that marae were used as a means to conscientize tauiwi (non-Māori) students to the Māori world view as a means of transforming their attitudes to being open to cultural difference and diversity and to embrace the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). She further argues that marae in tertiary institutes provide a sanctuary for Māori identity to flourish and a space to practice Māori pedagogy and the cultural concept of wānanga (educational gatherings).

Ako—Culturally Responsive Learning and Teaching

Teaching within a marae environment provides opportunities to practice Māori pedagogy emphasizing the idea of ako, meaning to learn and to teach. Ako highlights the notion that learning is reciprocal and that knowledge is acquired both through the act of learning and through teaching. It also recognizes that learning does not always happen in formal contexts and acknowledges that learning also occurs through working alongside elders and watching, observing, and developing behaviors with their guidance (Adds et al., 2011).

Ako is a concept related to the wider definition of pedagogy within a Māori context (Macfarlane, 2015). Ako is grounded in the principle of reciprocity and proposes that the learner and teacher are simultaneously juxtaposed, so that the learner is at the same time the teacher and vice versa (Macfarlane, 2015). This reciprocal epistemology becomes particularly relevant today when factual knowledge can easily be found online and when precious time of face-to-face contact becomes best utilized for cocreation of learning, dialogue, and creation of new ideas. Indigenous wisdom embedded in the walls and carvings of Ngakau Mahaki found its way to students’ minds and hearts, which enabled them to learn in a different way.

Ako is more than teaching and learning. It describes a meaningful relationship characterized by mutuality, respect, and the notion of integrative, whole people learning. It transcends the individualistic notions of learning by understanding that learning outcomes achieved by students cannot be separated from their environment, culture, belief system, family, and group they affiliate with. It acknowledges that new understanding and being in the world grows out of shared learning experiences. Every teacher is a learner and every student is a teacher as well as an authentic expert in their own experience. This kaupapa (core principle) connects Māori understanding of learning and the core principles of ACCI (Napan, 2009).

Academic Co-creative Inquiry (ACCI)

The principles of ako permeated the spirituality and social practice course taught in the Master of Social Practice transdisciplinary program offered at Unitec from 2004 to 2016. The program was envisaged to transcend disciplinary boundaries and provide a space for advanced practitioners to engage with novel ideas and creative ways of carrying out social practice (Napan, 2013; Napan & Connor, 2014).

An ACCI process (Napan, 2009) enables teachers and students to cocreate each course in relation to their prior knowledge and the particular composition of the class, while being mindful of course rationale and learning outcomes. It builds on cooperative inquiry (CI; Heron, 1996) and it is adapted to suit hierarchical higher education contexts where learning outcomes are prescribed and teachers hold unilateral power of final assessment. In CI, outcomes are not prescribed and there is no unilateral assessment. This distinction is essential, as doing a full CI within a current higher education setting would be impossible. In formal higher education in Aotearoa/New Zealand, prescribed learning outcomes guide every accredited course without much regard for students’ intentions, needs, and aspirations and ACCI offered a possibility for students to personalize prescribed outcomes in a way that made sense to them. They were asked to outline assignments that would best suit their learning styles and aspirations honoring a prescribed and nonnegotiable rule to submit one individual written assignment and one either individual or group presentation to the class.

The course was offered over four Friday/Saturday whole-day blocks. Table 1 shows some examples of learnings taken from students’ learning contracts. These learnings were not merely individual as they were shared as peer and self-reflections were integral components of the ACCI process. All assignments were sent for peer reflection to another student and to a recognized social practitioner of the student’s choice.

Table 1.

From Prescribed Outcomes to Personalized Inquiry Base Learning (Excerpts From Learning Contracts and Student Self-Reflections).

Prescribed Learning Outcomes	Example of How Students Personalized Learning Outcome	Reflections and Learnings (Excerpts From Students’ Feedback)
1. To deconstruct cultural understandings of spirituality	How has my culture affected my view on spirituality?	I changed my perception of some aspects of my culture and realized how it was impacting my work I became aware how my culture is so much part of me as much as my spirituality is. It definitely shaped my spirituality in its unique way The course prompted me to explore, question, and have a greater appreciation of and interest in indigenous approaches because for me there is a sense of disconnectedness within my culture I understood that indigenous culture and spirituality are intertwined and I feel yearning toward that
2. To critically analyze how ideas of spirituality reproduce social/power relations	What constitutes spiritual neglect?	What I have done in the past in taking steps to insure, my beliefs do not become oppressive to others is to err on the side of caution and not delve much into spirituality at all. This has not been something that I want to do as my spirituality had the biggest part to play in me finding compassion and ultimately changing the entire course of my life
3. To critically examine own understanding of spirituality in order to appreciate the complexity of socially and culturally produced understandings	Through a critical analysis of my own spiritual understanding, I would like to identify an inclusive framework to inform my practice that appreciates the complexity of spirituality	There is a fine, vital line between supporting people in their own paths and discoveries, and imposing our values and beliefs…the latter approach frightens me, especially because it can be beyond my awareness I changed my attitude of what constitutes help—I decided to be more of a “space holder” and less of a “know it aller” in my practice

The notion of ako values various kinds of knowledge, consistent with what Heron and Reason (1997) call extended epistemology, which relates to the importance of participative knowing and critical subjectivity expressed through equal acknowledgment of four ways of knowing, namely, experiential knowing, presentational knowing, propositional knowing, and practical knowing. Attendance to, and appreciation of, these four forms of knowing was deeply transformational through the experience of teaching and learning at the marae space. Students were encouraged to cover prescribed learning outcomes creatively. This included assignments that were in the forms of movies, art, personal journals, presentations, whakapapa (genealogy) research, poems, songs, dance, and alternative forms of writing. This was followed with propositional forms of knowledge expressed through peer and self-reflections where students had a chance to theorize about their inquiry questions and findings that were developed during the ACCI process. The practical form of knowing was experienced when students decided to undertake assignments as a group where they had to demonstrate skills related to appreciation and ways of working across and within difference and diversity. Students had to learn to be specific in their intentions, develop a sharp focus while putting into practice what they set out to do, collaborate, and work with deadlines while managing the complexities of their professional practice and personal lives and relationships. At the same time, they needed to allow unexpected learnings to emerge and support one another in their discoveries.

Elements of the ACCI process in this particular situation merged with principles that are embedded in a Māori worldview and pedagogy. For an effective application of ACCI to manifest, seven qualities need to be present, all of which are compatible with the notion of ako and Māori learning principles (Napan, 2017). These qualities are context, trust, relevance, choice, flow, integration, and integrity. They manifested in various forms during the course and merged with the five principles outlined below. These principles and qualities were enabled to be manifested through a process of whanaungatanga (connection) that starts with a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony).

A pōwhiri is a formal Māori welcoming ceremony carried out by tangata whenua (local people or hosts) to welcome manuhiri (visitors) into a space. Pōwhiri begins with the karanga (calling the visitors onto the marae, usually performed by women). Once the karanga is completed, the whaikōrero (formal speeches) are delivered by several men adept in oratory. Each speech is usually followed by appropriate waiata (song) that expands, challenges, or supports ideas presented in the speech. This process is compatible with the notion of extended epistemology by Heron (1996) where a learner is actively engaged in the process of learning and articulates what is known in at least four interdependent holistic ways (experiential, presentational, propositional, and practical). After the whaikōrero have been completed, there is usually a hongi (pressing of noses; Coates, 2012)¹ an exchange of the breath of life that has quintessential significance which stems from an old Māori legend.

(Figure 1) Students enrolled in the spirituality and social practice course arrived from various religious or secular beliefs and various professions, cultures, and ages. One of the youngest students was a Pākehā male in his early 20s and one of the oldest was a Catholic nun of Croatian ancestry in her 70s. There were four strong Māori women in the class, a Korean woman, a few students from India, a woman who identified as Pākehā and was in the process of discovering her Māori ancestry, and another four Pākehā students. This cross-cultural and gender mix of students (predominantly female) was typical of ethnic and gender demographics in social practice postgraduate courses.

Figure 1.

Whaea Lynda Toki standing next to two carved pou (pillars) inside the Whare Whakairo Ngākau Māhaki (carved meeting house, respectful heart; private collection of Ksenija Napan, 2018).

For those students who do not identify as Māori, the rationale for participating in a Māori culturally specific space stems from Aotearoa/New Zealand’s bicultural foundation. For social practitioners, it is a requirement that they learn about Māori and become biculturally competent. For example, for becoming a registered social worker, this is a key competence they need to demonstrate to be able to practice. Nevertheless, even though bicultural knowledge is a requirement, students embrace learning about Māori culture wholeheartedly as it resonates with their deeply engrained values and beliefs.

Inevitably, the student mix will consist of indigenous, domestic, and international students all with a different level of understanding. Some will be deeply embedded (Figure 2) in Matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and for some this will be a first encounter. These differences do not dilute the process as everyone reflects and contributes based on their own cultural backgrounds. Cultural misunderstandings are utilized for learning through skillful facilitation to enable transformative learning to happen.

Figure 2.

Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae complex: Puukenga, Manaaki the wharekai (dining house) Ngākau Māhaki, and the Whare Whakairo (carved meeting house; private collection of Helene Connor, 2018).

In the wharenui (large meeting house) space, after a pōwhiri and a cup of tea (served in the wharekai), students began the class by walking around the room until they found their place to stand. Walking continued until everybody found their spot. When every single student stopped walking, they were invited to speak when they felt their own Ngākau Māhaki (respectful heart) pounding. They spoke from their heart about what brought them to the course and made links with carvings and weavings on the walls. Some laughed, some cried, some were contemplative, but everybody spoke with integrity. The lecturer did the same. The flow was almost palpable with one story invoking another; blurring the boundaries between professions, ages, cultures, and beliefs; and uniting students and the teacher around the same purpose, embracing multiple ways of realizing it.

Transformative Learning and Teaching

The space, skillful facilitation, and a teaching learning method used enabled students to learn beyond prescribed learning outcomes and beyond cognitive understanding. An example of this potent transformative process is well depicted in this student reflection:

I became aware of our commonalities and went beyond a dualistic notion of individualistic and communal cultures. I became aware of my prejudices and shamefully exposed them allowing them to disappear and enable me to become a competent social practitioner. I did not even know that they were there! (Master of Social Practice Student feedback)

(Figure 3) Only through cross-cultural encounters can we have an insight into our commonalties and learn from our differences. Indigenous wisdom transcends self-centeredness and alienation so common in western societies and the process of collaborative learning enabled students to take responsibility for their learning and sharing of their authority and competence.

This is the first course I have ever done where I learnt with my body, mind and spirit. It enabled me to make some important decisions and change some perceptions that were blocking me from excelling in my life. I cannot ever go back to where I was. (MSocP Student feedback)

Figure 3.

Speaking from a “place to stand” (regardless of where you have come from in the world) in Ngakau Mahaki (private collection of Ksenija Napan, 2018).

Growing, supporting, and encouraging Māori practitioners to stand in their own mana (internal competence, integrity, coherence, status, power, and prestige) and participate in an educational process, not only about Māori knowledge but also about social practice, were beneficial for students and staff, equally. Individualized and unique assignments chosen by students to cover prescribed learning outcomes enabled them to play to their strengths and explore issues and topics that were important to them. For some students, this was the first marae experience, for some was like coming home. Regardless of their prior knowledge, they all found a way to learn at the level that was suitable for them.

I enjoyed the process immensely, but also the learning environment and the atmosphere—very conducive to experiential learning and how it all linked to who we really are and what we stand for. It was philosophical yet very practical. I learned that spirituality is something that manifests in everything I do, it is definitely not a Sunday morning thing. (MSocP Student feedback)

The intent was to evoke students’ sense of agency permeated with their sense of purpose and meaning in relation to why and how they wanted to integrate spirituality in their social practice. Becoming an effective social practitioner was about realizing their mana (internal competence, integrity, coherence, status, power, and prestige) and enabling them to use it to bring forth the world and improve quality of life of their clients. The marae space and principles we acted upon enabled us to do this.

In social practice, our “human instrument” is our main tool. During introductions, students and lecturers shared their strengths, abilities, fears, concerns, and the “fire in their bellies” that brought them to the course. Competition was replaced with collaboration where everybody has put their resources and abilities to use for this cocreated course. There was an initial reluctance to participate, manifested through confusion, fear from unknown, doubt, and mistrust. Occasionally, a student would say, “Just tell me what to do to pass this course, and I will do it, I don’t know what I don’t know!,” but their feedback upon completion, clearly demonstrated how much personalizing the learning outcomes, choosing their assignments, and self- and peer-reflecting on their work contributed to the transformation from a student to a competent practitioner. Once fear had been eliminated through a process of mutual appreciation and respect, rigid boundaries melted away, and mutuality and reciprocity took primacy. No two courses were alike; yet, the same learning outcomes were covered to the best of students’ abilities. Doing the bare minimum was replaced with doing one’s best. All student work was assessed based on coverage of learning outcomes and achievement of master’s-level criteria, yet they were personal, artistic, idiosyncratic, and particular.

Another layer of transformation happened through the process of peer reflection where students gave critical feedback to one another, constructing it carefully in order to appreciate the personal nature of these assignments, yet enabling a colleague to be stretched and learn more from received feedback. This skill proved to be useful in their social practice where they were required to give respectful, yet at times challenging feedback to their clients, colleagues, and communities they work with.

Peer and self-assessment informed and enriched required external assessment by a lecturer and these reflections were deep, personal, and transforming. Students needed to send their assignments to one colleague from the class and to one practitioner of their choice, get feedback, incorporate it into the assignment, and only then submit the perfected version of the assignment. The final feedback was in a form of a letter reflecting on what a student has set out to do in their learning contract, how they covered the prescribed learning outcomes through their personalized inquiry and pointing out the next step in order to expand their knowledge. External readers’ input was acknowledged and gratitude expressed through e-mails or phone calls by a lecturer.

Peer reflections from another student and from the practitioner in the field added another layer of understanding of my own practice. It also added another layer of accountability.

The philosophy and ideology of the whole endeavour was great. It was fantastic to have time and support to look at my work in such depth and then receive a thorough and very affirming feedback. (MSocP Student feedback)

As the teaching method used in this particular space was developed over years of teaching the spirituality and social practice course in traditional classroom, when it was offered within the marae space its principles and its various forms of collaboration, partnership and cocreation embedded in every teaching activity became much clearer. Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae space amplified, crystallized, and sharpened the ako (reciprocal and integrative pedagogy) that enabled students (and a teacher) to expand their horizons and learn in a way that suited their idiosyncratic learning style, context, and aspirations. Students’ prior knowledge was appreciated and collaborative assignments were not imposed but were an option that at times became a unique group project, and at times collaboration and mutual support manifested through peer reflection and feedback. ACCI is a deeply experiential method that blossomed within Ngākau Māhaki, as the context was perfect for such a way of teaching and learning (ako). The method of cocreating the process and the context of the course enabled students’ strengths to come to the fore as well as a fearless exploration of new ideas they wanted to focus on. Elimination of fear and cooperation created a context where empowerment could emerge.

Our learnings became more synergetic through collaboration. (MSocP Student feedback)

Ngākau Māhaki was a guardian of our knowledge, inspiring, amplifying, and enabling multiple transformations to happen. Regardless of students’ cultural backgrounds, Ngākau Māhaki embraced them and enabled their inner wisdom to surface.

Ngākau Māhaki was a class participant, we could feel the wisdom embedded in her walls, her mauri (life force), guardianship, guidance, sense her respect, and experience how she cloaked us and protected our mana (internal competence, integrity, coherence, status, power, and prestige). There were times when we were gently challenged and pushed on a novel path of learning, and this was done with care and respect, just like an effective kaiako (teacher) would do. The space, context, and the atmosphere enabled students to do this to one another as well and to hear critical feedback from their peers or a teacher without becoming defensive but embrace it and utilize it for learning.

Learning in the Marae enabled me to experience and digest learning outcomes with my whole body and mind. I experienced a re-iteration of respect and I have altered the lens through which I look at the world. (MSocP Student feedback)

The student experience of ACCI contributed to the creation of a genuine learning community, exemplified in the following student quotes:

Academic Co-Creative Inquiry and the fact that this course was taught in the marae opened room for much more relevant discussions than if it was more prescriptive. It is as if everyone had a chance to focus and learn exactly what they needed to learn at this point of time.

I have learned that academia does not have to be confined to fancy language and that I can be myself and say what I think and believe in without being laughed at or ignored!

I love the whare whakairo. It has heaps of open space where relaxation and rapid learning occur on all levels.

Ngākau Māhaki engenders humility and compassion and creates a context conducive to transdisciplinary and transformational teaching and learning. Stories flow, resonate, and reverberate through the space. In this space, participants know when it is their time to speak. If they do not act on the impulse to speak, opportunities present later. Stories told in Ngākau Māhaki become interwoven; they create “relationality” where a network of patterns emerges and students form groups according to this resonance. In this space, the signal to speak or engage in an action often comes from the body.

There was this impulse to speak that came from my body, my heart started beating rapidly and words just started flowing. It was unplanned and almost without thinking, but what came out was perfect and it inspired other person to speak just after me. Students reported a sense of timelessness, frisson, shifts in consciousness, they connected to one another in a way not common in academic courses. They started an informal group and stayed in contact. I felt like Ngākau Māhaki was a co-teacher, like I was under her cloak at times being her mouthpiece, at times being her student. I never felt so connected to an inanimate object in my life. (Napan, 2013, K. Napan, personal communication, October 22, 2018)

These sensations come unexpectedly and contribute to the transformative aspect of learning but only if a student or a teacher was open to it. If not, this remained only a memorable sensation that, frequently, kept bringing people back to this amazing place of collaborative learning.

Throughout the spirituality and social practice course, the flow of mutual learning was extraordinary and students testified to that. The marae space itself, lecturer facilitation and a number of experiential exercises enabled a deep level of learning to happen leading to personal, professional, and spiritual transformations. The integrity, authenticity, and willingness each student brought to the course also affected the overall success of the ACCI. The flexibility of learning contracts enabled students to change their outcomes and learning activities while working on their assignments, opening new possibilities, and allowing them to be led by the curiosity expressed in their personalized inquiry questions. It was noticeable that, while presenting, all students rejected their written scripts and spoke clearly and with integrity. Many shed tears while speaking or listening and everybody was moved or touched in some way. Most students remained in touch after the course had finished and continued developing valuable networks, so important in social practice.

Permitting alternative assessments unleashed student creativity and enabled students to express their ideas through songs, books, various metaphors, exploration of links between Catholicism and paganism, exploration of mind-altering substances in relation to spiritualty, and links between acute episodes of mental unwellness and spirituality, while retaining the academic integrity of their assignments and utilizing relevant academic resources.

The right balance of individual and communal, scientific and mystical, idiosyncratic, and conventional was achieved and the whole class managed to transcend traditional dichotomies often imposed in academic settings. Students reported that they successfully managed to “integrate their being with their doing” and they became more aware of the purpose and meaning of their journeys as social practitioners.

Teaching and learning within a cultural space such as whare whakairo (carved meeting house) opens up possibilities for immersion in a culture that may be different to one’s own, or it may reinforce one’s cultural identity and heritage. In terms of the student voices captured in student feedback, the preference for having the spirituality and social practice course in a beautifully crafted whare whakairo was overwhelmingly positive as the following excerpts from student feedback illustrate:

I renewed appreciation for Māori culture.

It opened my mind to worlds and places I never thought I would go.

Finally, some true biculturalism in practice!

My practice transformed as a result of this course.

This is a course I will never forget.

Collaboration was organic and genuine and I was surprised how everybody did their best.

Whole people learning at its best!

The trust we created and the connections we made were most valuable!

I never expected something like this—real learning!

As Gay and Kirkland (2003) argue, to appreciate cultural differences and accept the need to be reflective in both personal beliefs and professional practice, it is important to actively engage in cultural critical consciousness and personal reflection. Real-life experiences make the learning activities more genuine and authentic and lessen the likelihood that students will escape the intellectual, emotional, psychological, moral, and pedagogical challenges inherent in reflection and critical consciousness. The ACCI approach enabled students to learn by doing within the context of authentically lived experiences. They were able to create learning outcomes relevant to them by using personalized learning contracts, face-to-face contact in the marae space, collaboration, and peer and self-reflections which enabled each student to expand their knowledge and transform their being in a way they saw fit and were ready to engage with.

Transformative learning was not just the prerogative of the students though. As teachers, we experienced the power of transformative learning by engaging in a cultural pedagogy that utilized a marae space.

Teaching at and with Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and particularly in Ngākau Māhaki had a deep transformative impact on me. The sense of respect and timelessness as well as wisdom and creativity embedded in her walls, poles, carvings and weavings inspired me to engage in a different kind of teaching. It was as if my intellectual teaching descended from my head to my heart and belly but still retaining the intellectual rigour. I felt deeply connected to the Papatūānuku [mother Earth] and inspired by Ranginui [sky father] and felt deeply aligned and in tune with knowledge that needed to be shared with students. This sharing was mutual and co-created. I would come prepared to the class and whilst still having my lesson plan in the back of my mind, I would allow themes and topics to emerge from and with students. Our personal stories were related to the development of our professional identities whilst political realties were discussed in the light of their manifestation in our everyday lives. Students’ various belief systems were explored with respect and appreciation. We discussed religion and politics with grace and integrity. I dared to share some personal beliefs that shaped me as a teacher and as an academic woman and have utilised these stories to expand students’ knowledge and allow uncommon conversations to occur. I still go to Ngākau Māhaki when I need inspiration, solace or space and time to reflect. (K. Napan, personal communication, October 22, 2018)

Teaching in Ngākau Māhaki was a unique and transformative experience. The beautiful wharenui [large house] pulsates with an energy that is palpable and profound. The house seems to embrace you the moment you enter. The feeling of peace and calm is unmistakable. The breath slows down, tension leaves the body and there is a definite change in mind-set.

Teaching from a place of relationship with one’s environment is transformative. For me, this manifested as teaching in a more intuitive way and utilizing the cultural space of the marae. A central feature of intuitive teaching was that connection to my body, to feel as if I was “sitting in my bones and muscles.” I found myself relating to students in ways that were beyond instruction and the impartation of knowledge. Teaching became a transformative act of reciprocation and reflection. (H. Connor, personal communication, October 22, 2018)

Reflections on the Synergy of the Three Strands—Cultural Pedagogy, the ACCI Process, and the Concept of Ako

This article has argued that a culturally responsive pedagogy is central to transformative education. Comparably to Gay (2010), we observed that a culturally responsive pedagogy develops students’ academic success and critical consciousness simultaneously. Teaching and learning within a whare whakairo, particularly one as beautiful as Ngākau Māhaki within the space that constitutes Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae added a further dimension to both teacher and student transformation. As one of the students stated her in feedback, “This was beyond traditional academic learning. I have learnt with my heart, mind and gut” (MSocP Student feedback).

Illeris (2014) explored the issues related to identity when learners are engaged in transformative learning and emphasized that the term soul as used by Dirkx (2012) may be suitable when describing learning that involves deeper, unconscious, and embodied learning experiences that transcend cognitive and rational learning. However, Illeris (2014) emphasized the importance of identity in transformative learning and we found out in our endeavors that it was much more important who students were and who they become during the course than readings and course materials we provided. However, the marae space, competent teaching, motivated students, and the inspiring physical space enabled a transcultural learning to emerge in an organic and cocreative way.

The inspired approach of combining an ACCI with a culturally responsive pedagogy such as ako and delivering a course within the cultural space of the marae were all fundamental to creating transformative educational opportunities. The pedagogical strategies outlined by Gay (2010) of cooperative and collaborative learning, dialogic and reciprocal learning, positive teacher attitudes, and effective communication were also very important within the teaching and learning context. Whanaungatanga also played a powerful role within the formation of a culturally responsive pedagogy. Building relationships, connection with one another, sharing, and reciprocity all served to deepen the wider community of students and teachers and created a holistic approach to transformative education. This approach also included social and emotional well-being, as well as creating space to learn new knowledge and ways of interacting and “being.”

Naku te rourou, nau te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your basket of knowledge and my basket of knowledge, the people will prosper.²

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Statement of place and date of any previous oral presentation of this article. An earlier unpublished version of this article (as a PowerPoint presentation), entitled When Walls Speak, was presented by Ksenija Napan and Lynda Toki at the HERDSA Conference, “The Place of Learning and Teaching,” Auckland, July 1–4, 2013. This unpublished presentation has been substantially revised and expanded and now has a third coauthor, Helene Connor.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ksenija Napan

Helene Connor

Notes

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