In 2005, the Ministry of Education funded four te reo Māori professional development (PD) pilot programmes for mainstream primary school teachers. These pilot programmes were run in different areas of the country by four different providers.
Purpose
The objectives of these pilot programmes included:
- increasing the participating teachers’ proficiency in te reo Māori;
- increasing their understanding of and respect for Māori culture;
- improving their knowledge and use of second-language teaching and learning strategies;
- increasing their familiarity with the draft Māori in the New Zealand Curriculum.
The Ministry contracted Research New Zealand (formerly BRC Marketing & Social Research) and Aatea Consultants Ltd (together “the Evaluation Team”) to evaluate the pilot PD programmes.
The objectives of the evaluation encompassed: describing how the PD pilot programmes have been implemented; determining what outcomes or impacts have been achieved; identifying what factors contribute to or detract from the effectiveness of the PD programmes; and identifying the key learnings that may be taken forward to optimise the initiative.
Methodology
The evaluation of Te Reo Māori in the Mainstream PD Pilot Programmes for Primary School Teachers comprised a number of related research activities. Specifically, in addition to a scoping phase with the Ministry of Education and providers, the evaluation involved: a pre-PD survey of all enrolled participants; a post-PD survey of all those who completed the PD programme; site visits to the schools of eight selected teachers, involving interviews with the selected teachers and with other key members of staff; interviews with the PD providers; and analysis of secondary information.
In addition to these specific research activities, members of the Evaluation Team visited each programme at one of their sessions, to introduce themselves to the teachers and explain the purpose of the evaluation.