Learning From Sustainability Enactment Grounded in Māori Worldviews Within Education Settings in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Recent events have highlighted multiple crises of related to social justice, environmental sustainability, and the wider wellbeing of humanity. Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been a key plank of the United Nations’ endeavours towards social, cultural, economic, and ecological justice. Indigenous peoples have served as guardians of biodiversity and have developed time-honoured values systems and practices that preserve environmental wellbeing. In this paper we report on a recent study in Aotearoa New Zealand that aimed to identify approaches that reflect the pedagogical principles of ESD, with a particular focus on incorporating values and practices of Māori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa. Three education settings participated in this study: an Enviroschools kindergarten and primary school, and a wharekura, a Māori secondary school. The methodology was grounded in kaupapa Māori theory, qualitative and narrative. Findings highlighted ESD pedagogical principles of criticality, empowerment, and inter-disciplinarity as well as the embedding of te ao Māori (Māori worldviews) with a particular focus on kaitiakitanga (environmental stewardship) evident across the settings.