Build culturally responsive practice by centring relationships, identity and high expectations for every ākonga. Use Tātaiako and Tapasā to guide your practice, learn names and languages, connect learning to students' cultures and whānau, and challenge deficit thinking so Māori and Pasifika learners see themselves succeeding as themselves.
What does culturally responsive practice mean in Aotearoa?
Culturally responsive practice means teaching in a way that recognises, values and builds on each learner’s culture, language and identity so they can succeed as themselves. In Aotearoa New Zealand it is grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the expectation that education works for Māori and Pacific learners, not just despite their difference. It moves relationships and identity from the margins to the centre of how you plan, teach and assess.
It is more than celebrating Matariki or holding one Pasifika night a year. Culturally responsive teachers draw on their students’ funds of knowledge — the skills, languages, stories and relationships learners bring from home — and weave them into everyday learning. The refreshed curriculum, Te Mātaiaho, reinforces this by asking schools to design a local curriculum that reflects their community and honours mātauranga Māori. Responsiveness, in other words, is woven through the ordinary business of a lesson, not bolted on for special occasions.
Which frameworks guide teaching Māori and Pasifika learners?
Two Ministry of Education frameworks set out the cultural competencies teachers are expected to develop. Tātaiako describes competencies for teachers of Māori learners, and Tapasā does the same for teachers of Pacific learners. They sit alongside system strategies — Ka Hikitia for Māori education and the Action Plan for Pacific Education — and the research legacy of Te Kotahitanga, which showed that teachers’ relationships and beliefs shift outcomes.
Tātaiako is built around five competencies, while Tapasā is organised into three turu, or dimensions. You do not need to master everything at once; most teachers pick one competency and one class to focus on, then build from there. The point is not compliance but changed practice you can see in how students participate.
- Tātaiako (Māori learners): wānanga, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, tangata whenuatanga and ako.
- Tapasā (Pacific learners): identities, languages and cultures; collaborative, respectful relationships; and effective pedagogies for Pacific learners.
- Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia: the national strategy for Māori education.
- Action Plan for Pacific Education 2020–2030: system priorities for Pacific learners and their families.
How do you build whanaungatanga and strong relationships?
Start with whanaungatanga — deliberate, reciprocal relationships with students and their whānau or families. Learn to pronounce every name correctly, ask how students want to be known, and take time to understand who they are beyond the classroom. Relationships are not a warm-up to the ‘real’ learning; for many Māori and Pacific learners they are the condition that makes learning possible.
Pair strong relationships with genuinely high expectations. Ako — the idea that teaching and learning flow both ways — reminds you that students and their families hold knowledge worth learning from. Invite whānau in as partners rather than as an audience, communicate early and positively, and use structures like tuakana–teina peer support so students teach and learn alongside each other. Consistency also matters: showing up, following through and repairing relationships when they fray tells learners you are in it for the long term.
How do you connect learning to identity, language and culture?
Connect learning to identity by treating students’ languages, knowledge and places as assets you build on, not gaps to fix. Normalise te reo Māori and Pacific languages in your room, use local examples and pūrākau (stories), and design tasks that let students bring their own contexts, families and communities into the work. This is the heart of a responsive local curriculum.
For Pacific learners, relational concepts matter deeply. Talanoa — open, respectful dialogue — and teu le vā, nurturing the relational space between people, shape how conversations and group work feel. Give students genuine choice in how they demonstrate understanding, and let collaborative tasks draw on collective strengths rather than individual competition alone. Small, consistent moves like these add up to far more than any single cultural event.
- Keep a name-pronunciation guide and practise before you call the roll.
- Use dual-language labels, greetings and key vocabulary across the week.
- Offer tasks where students can draw on family, community or cultural knowledge.
- Co-design some class norms with students and, where possible, their whānau.
How do you avoid tokenism and deficit thinking?
Avoid tokenism by moving beyond surface celebrations and by refusing deficit explanations for underachievement. Deficit thinking locates the problem in the child, their whānau or their culture; culturally responsive practice, following Te Kotahitanga, locates the opportunity in your own teaching and relationships. That shift, from blaming to agency, is what changes results. It also changes how you talk about students, describing what they can do next rather than what they lack.
Be careful not to treat Māori or Pacific learners as a single, fixed group. Pacific peoples include Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori, Niuean, Fijian, Tokelauan and many more, each with distinct languages and values. Ask rather than assume, let students define their own identities, and check that your cultural examples are accurate and current rather than stereotyped.
How do you know your practice is working?
You know culturally responsive practice is working when Māori and Pasifika learners show stronger belonging, engagement and progress, and can tell you why. Look past a single test score to a fuller picture: attendance, participation, the quality of student talk, and how safe learners feel to bring their identities into the room.
Gather evidence deliberately. Disaggregate achievement data so patterns for Māori and Pacific learners are visible rather than hidden in a class average, and pair it with student and whānau voice through talanoa or hui. Use what you learn to adjust your teaching, closing the loop between relationships, feedback and outcomes. Share what you notice back with students and their whānau so they can see the progress too.
How can consistent feedback support responsive teaching?
Consistent, criteria-based feedback supports responsive teaching by making expectations clear and fair for every learner, whatever their starting point. When students understand exactly how their work meets the success criteria, high expectations become concrete rather than assumed — which matters most for learners the system has underserved in the past. Clear criteria also reduce the chance that unconscious bias, rather than the work itself, shapes a grade.
This is where a tool like JeddAI can help. Teachers upload student work, and JeddAI drafts feedback and marking aligned to their own rubric, success criteria and comment banks, which the teacher then reviews and edits. It saves marking time and helps you apply criteria consistently across a class while keeping you in control of the professional judgement. Get started with JeddAI to spend less time marking and more on the relationships that make responsive teaching work.
Frequently asked questions
Is culturally responsive teaching only for Māori and Pasifika students?
No. It benefits all learners, but in Aotearoa it deliberately centres equity for Māori and Pacific students, whom the system has too often underserved.
What is the difference between Tātaiako and Tapasā?
Tātaiako sets out cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners; Tapasā does the same for teachers of Pacific learners. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Do I need to speak te reo Māori to teach responsively?
No, but you should pronounce names and kupu correctly and normalise te reo and Pacific languages in your classroom. Willingness and respect matter more than fluency.
What does ako mean?
Ako describes a reciprocal teaching-and-learning relationship where teacher and student learn from each other, recognising the knowledge learners and their whānau bring.
How do I engage whānau who rarely come to school events?
Reach out early and positively, offer flexible times and formats, and use talanoa or hui rather than only formal reporting. Small, genuine contact builds trust over time.
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