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Creating a Māori Indigenous Model of Evaluation, Founded on Māori Indigenous Values

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Thesis(5.52 MB)

Date

2023

Authors

Wolfgramm, Tania

Supervisor

Henry, Ella
Keiha, Pare

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Doctor of Philosophy

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Values and evaluation inform and influence all aspects of our lives. However, what is evaluation, and how do evaluation methodologies influence outcomes? This research examines how evaluation systems express and reflect their designers' and developers' values, ideologies, social mores, and political worldviews. Māori values are known as ‘taonga’, cultural treasures that formed the basis of their evaluation approaches across all elements of societal life, including health, education, justice, and the economy. Over the last two hundred years, Māori evaluation systems have been denigrated and discredited through the process of colonisation. Eurocentric evaluation systems have been used as political tools to assess, measure, define, and control Māori and Indigenous communities worldwide. Regardless of such methods, Māori and Indigenous communities continue to bear the brunt of intergenerational trauma and suffer the burden of sociocultural, economic, and ecological inequities. We must then ask how Māori and Indigenous values and worldviews can improve evaluation. Why are Māori Indigenous values-centred models of evaluation needed today? How can we gather and honour Mātauranga Māori to create a cohesive model of evaluation? Informed by Kaupapa Māori philosophies and praxis, this research spans the hinengaro/psyche, whānau/families, hapu/communities, iwi/nations, and Te Ao/global systems are integrated with the experiential knowledge of Māori and Indigenous evaluation specialists. The creation of Pou Kapua, the largest totem in Aotearoa, provided a unique Mātauranga Māori methodology to support the design of the Pou Mārama model of evaluation. Pou Mārama is a Māori values-centric approach that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the kaingākau of Taha Wairua (spiritual and ethical harmony), Aroha (care and compassion), Mana (heartfelt commitment), Tiaki (protection and preservation), and Ora (intergenerational well-being). Through the Pou Mārama methodology, the principles of Whānaungatanga support respectful and collaborative relationships, and Manaakitanga encourages a complex adaptive systems approach. Kaitiakitanga translates interdisciplinary knowledge into creative and transformative solutions. Finally, Rangatiratanga focuses on demonstrating courageous leadership, supporting authentic measures of well-being, and achieving transformational outcomes - for our people and our planet.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/16440

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Doctoral Theses