Lessons From Te Tai Tokerau Taiohi for Teachers Who Want to See and Change Their Racial Biases

In this article, four taiohi Māori of Te Tai Tokerau provide critical insights into their experiences of racism and their perspectives of school, teaching and education systems in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants in this project all positively identified as Māori but have very different ways of conceptualising that identity. Western schooling in Aotearoa has, since its introduction, been a site of cultural contestation. Schools are also highly visible locations where Indigenous and Western epistemological differences play out with real-life impacts and consequences. Many education professionals are aware of the potential positive identity has in education settings for students, but there are few opportunities for teachers to stand in their students’ shoes or to sit in the discomfort many students experience on a daily basis. This article provides unique and honest glimpses of high school racial biases as experienced by taiohi Māori of Te Tai Tokerau.