Mathematics curriculum development, with and for Indigenous communities.

Abstract

This paper examines the development of mathematics curricula for classrooms teaching in te reo Māori, the endangered Indigenous language of New Zealand. Although the parameters set by the New Zealand Ministry of Education about what the curricula would look like and how they would be developed were not always commensurate with Maori aspirations, the analysis suggests that Māori were able to identify spaces to ensure that their agendas for language development and revitalisation were achieved. These contested spaces were made available because of the government’s ideological assumptions, but then were used by Māori to achieve their ideological aims.