Language is a ‘central element in being Maori’ – using structured literacy to teach te reo misses the point

Since the start of this year, all New Zealand schools have been required to use structured literacy to teach reading and writing – including the country’s 310 primary and intermediate Maori-medium kura (schools that teach in te reo Maori).

This curriculum change was part of the National-led government’s plan to lift educational achievement. At the heart of the new policy appears to be the desire to apply structured literacy across the board – regardless of the educational context – in an explicit on-size-fits-all approach.

While work has been done to develop the new literacy resources in te reo Maori, and they will undoubtedly be welcomed by kura, the blanket application of structured literacy could cause more problems than it actually solves.

Is structured literacy needed?

Structured literacy focuses on teaching children to read words by following a progression from simple to more complex phonics – the practice of matching the sounds with individual letters or groups of letters.

However, unlike English, te reo Maori is a transparent language – the written form is completely phonetic with a 100% consistent match between symbol and sound. This makes learning to read and write in te reo Maori a different and easier task than in English.

There is no extensive research showing a general reading and writing problem in Maori-medium schools that requires a structured literacy approach to “fix”.

Instead, pushing structured literacy into Maori-medium schools seems to be driven by an ideological commitment to this teaching approach rather than an actual need.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi and consultation

There is also no indication that genuine consultation with Maori took place before the government made the announcement. In 2024, there was a trial with a small number of teachers and facilitators. But this falls far short of genuine involvement of Maori as the Treaty partner.

Further work by the Ministry of Education continues to be limited, with a focus on testing and validating imposed literacy assessments and getting feedback from Maori teachers as “end-users”. This is not consultation. It is using Maori teachers to provide data with which to refine an existing product.

According to a 1986 report from the Waitangi Tribunal, te reo Maori is a taonga (treasure) that Maori must have control of. It’s for Maori to decide on changes and innovations in the teaching and learning of the language.

The government’s introduction of structured literacy without full Maori involvement takes the language away from its guardians.

More than words

Language is simultaneously many things. For example it is both a “code” and an inherent part of cultural identity.

The code view of language positions it as a tool to carry information you wish to communicate.

However, seeing te reo Maori as part of a way of understanding the world places value not just on words, but also on the way the language is inherent in Maori thinking, history, experience and actions.

It is clear the government prioritises a code view of language in which literacy is a technical competence needed to achieve the outcomes set through the national curriculum.

For example, according to Education Minister Erica Stanford, the literacy packs were designed for children “learning through te reo Maori”.

The word “through” positions te reo Maori as a code that carries the “learning”. It is the national curriculum that is being learned and te reo Maori is reduced to the instrument carrying it.

This view means the cultural importance of te reo Maori in terms of whakapapa and being Maori could be pushed further into the background by a focus on structured literacy.

Learning as a performance

The promise of phonics checks at 20, 40 and 55 weeks of schooling could also over-emphasise the need for technical competence over the broader view of language.

For example, the ministry website supporting structured literacy offers this video of a student completing a phonics check.

Despite instructions and discussion between teacher and student clearly showing the student hears all the sounds of te reo Maori well enough to have a conversation, the phonics check reduces te reo Maori to a performance in which sounds must be classified as the same or different.

Teaching and testing this way risks reducing competence in te reo Maori to a set of standardised performances.

Missing the richness of te reo

While schools are important in the revitalisation of Indigenous languages, they are just one component and cannot achieve this goal alone. If language development happens entirely within a school system, without being an integral part of a larger community of language development, a “school version” of the language can develop.

This could end up being more aligned with the government’s aims for students than language revitalisation and Indigenous emancipation.

Te reo Maori is an endangered heritage language according to statistical modeling. The most important purpose of working in te reo Maori is not simply to develop reading and writing skills, but to be part of a full language revitalisation.

The aim is for te reo Maori to be living and flourishing within communities, passed within whanau from generation to generation and ensuring te reo itself is a central element in being Maori.

Te reo Maori is not an instrument to be used by the government to achieve curriculum outcomes. It is, above all, an inherent part of matauranga and whakaaro Maori (Maori knowledge and thought), and vital for Maori emancipation.

This places a responsibility on the government to ensure any innovation in kura Maori is driven by Maori.

Brian Tweed worked for the Ministry of Education as a contractor in 2024 working on the Pangarau (mathematics) curriculum.

Pania Te Maro was contracted by the Ministry of Education as a lead writer for the mathematics and statistics curriculum prior to 2023 and as lead writer for the tirewa marautnaga pangarau (mathematics curriculum for Maori medium schools). She has worked alongside and in some cases with the writers of the te reo matatini curriculum, and with the writers of the new rangaranga reo resources.