📝 Critical Reflection Essay · EDPROFM 600
Educational success as Māori
A researched essay, then a commitment
The brief
- Choose ONE topic: (A) why we need educational policies and initiatives focused on culturally responsive teaching for Māori learners; or (B) what it means to achieve "educational success as Māori" and how Tātaiako supports this goal.
- Part 1 (1,500 w): balanced, research-supported account of the issue — policy, initiatives, Our Code, Our Standards, and scholarly literature.
- Part 2 (750 w): reflection on what EDPROFM 600 has taught me about Māori history, people and culture in education, and how I will enable Māori learners to achieve success as Māori. First person accepted here.
- Minimum five peer-reviewed scholarly sources (APA 7) — policy/standards documents are additional and do NOT count toward the five. No lecture slides as references.
Topic choice — what I bring to each
| Option | The question | My existing evidence base |
|---|---|---|
| A · Culturally responsive teaching | Why do policies/initiatives for CRT for Māori learners exist — and what do they ask of teachers? | Te Kotahitanga lived in my CIA inquiry (Bishop & Berryman already my citations); Ka Hikitia! and the policy lineage are the essay's spine |
| B · Success as Māori + Tātaiako | What does "educational success as Māori" mean, and how does Tātaiako operationalise it? | Tātaiako's competencies map directly onto the Ngā Paerewa scaffold I built for CIA Part 4 — definitional ground already worked |
Both are strong; B gives sharper definition work (what DOES the phrase mean, and to whom — iwi, whānau, MoE?) while A gives the policy-history arc. Decide after skimming the course reading list.
Rubric — 40 points
| Criterion | Excellent looks like | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Research & essay response | In-depth, balanced, well-researched; literature consistently integrated into the text | 20 |
| 2 · Personal reflection (course learning → success as Māori) | Insightful, detailed, well-connected to course content AND research; concrete future-practice strategies | 10 |
| 3 · Scholarly sources & policy | ≥5 scholarly + standards/policy/initiatives referred to | 5 |
| 4 · Academic writing, APA 7, formatting | Conventions met with almost no errors; word count in range | 5 |
Source register — the five must be peer-reviewed
Counting rules
- Scholarly (count): peer-reviewed journal articles & academic books — mine the course reading list ("Resources for Assignment 2"); Bishop & Berryman (2009) and Bishop (2011) already in my citation library transfer straight in.
- Grey literature (extra, don't count): Tātaiako · Ka Hikitia! · NZC 2007 · Te Mātaiaho · Our Code, Our Standards · Te Whāriki — cite them, they carry the policy criterion.
- Never: lecture slides — cite the published sources the lectures are built on.
Checklist
Workflow
- Scaffold page built (this hub)
- Skim the course reading list; choose topic A or B
- Source register to ≥5 scholarly + the grey-lit set
- Essay plan (1,500 w) — balanced account, policy arc, standards woven
- Draft Part 1; draft Part 2 reflection in my voice (750 w)
- APA 7 pass; word count 2,250 ±10%
- Upload docx/pdf by 23 Oct 23:59
🗂️ Threads this essay draws on
Practice evidence for the reflection
CIA Part 2 — whanaungatanga and Te Kotahitanga in my classroom, with mentor observations · Evidence Collection — te reo & tikanga, culturally responsive practice · CIA Part 4 — the Ngā Paerewa mapping that Tātaiako's competencies slot into.
Reference list (starter — extend from the course reading list)
- Bishop, R. (2011). Freeing ourselves. Sense Publishers.
- Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2009). The Te Kotahitanga effective teaching profile. SET: Research Information for Teachers, 2009(2), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.0461
- Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media.
- Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka Hikitia — Accelerating Success 2013–2017.
- Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2011). Tātaiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners.
- Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2017). Our code, our standards.