Toward Te Tiriti Consciousness in Health Education

Abstract This article contributes to the emerging scholarship on Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led education by theorising the early formation of Te Tiriti consciousness - a contextually specific form of critical consciousness grounded in tino rangatiratanga (Māori authority and self-determination) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on reflexive thematic analysis of 106 written reflections from first-year public health students, the study explores how learners engage with Te Tiriti content and its implications for professional identity. Three interrelated themes trace students’ transformative learning trajectories: confronting structured ignorance, navigating identity disruption, and reorienting professional purpose. Students described the shock of discovering hidden histories, the emotional labour of reckoning with complicity, and an emerging sense of responsibility to uphold Te Tiriti in practice. We argue that Te Tiriti consciousness extends Freirean conscientisation by grounding critical consciousness in tino rangatiratanga and by being emotionally and relationally mediated through whanaungatanga (relational accountability). These findings help advance current understandings of decolonising pedagogy by positioning Te Tiriti o Waitangi as both a constitutional and educational foundation. The study identifies pedagogical priorities for cultivating Te Tiriti-led learning that fosters transformation in knowledge, identity, and practice across tertiary education.