This project focused on kaiako literacy instruction practices and tauira learning pertaining to reading comprehension and Māori vocabulary development. It involved five Kura Kaupapa Māori schools located in rural communities or small rural townships. Kura staff and researchers were involved in a collaborative process involving the collection, analysis and feedback of student achievement and classroom observation data. The first year of the project involved collecting baseline data to develop literacy learning and teaching profiles. The second year involved collaborative professional learning opportunities for Māori-medium teachers to develop instructional strategies to support and improve their students’ reading comprehension and Māori language development.  The project found that changes in teacher instructional practices, in particular their use of questioning and feedback, were accompanied by some positive changes in patterns of assessment scores and mean scores for different cohort groups of tauira.

Outputs

Book Chapter and Review

• Hohepa, M.K., Williams, N.N. & Barber, J. (2005). Whakawhanuitia Te Hinengaro: Phase one. In J.S. Te Rito (Series ed) with B. Duffin, P. Fletcher & J. Sinclair. Tihei Oreore: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Public Seminar Series. Auckland: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, pp. 61-78. (monograph)
• Hohepa, M., Williams, N., & Barber, J. Reading comprehension in Kura Kaupapa Māori Classrooms: Whakawhānuitia te hinengaro. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 43, (2), 73-87, 2008.

Presentations

• Hohepa, M. Reading, teaching and learning in Kura Kaupapa Māori. Invited presentation on ‘ Māori Education’ for Nga Pae o te Māramatanga Seminar Series and Inaugural Professorial Lectures, 17 August, 2004.
• Hohepa, M.K., Williams, N.N. & Barber, J. (2004). Reading Comprehension and Indigenous Language Regeneration: Reading to Learn in Māori Language Immersion Contexts. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Conference, UMIST, Manchester, UK, 15-18 September 2004.
• Hohepa, M.K., Williams, N.N. (2005). Reading to Learn: Reading Comprehension and Indigenous Language Regeneration – Findings From the First Year. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, Montreal Canada, 11-15 April, 2005.
• Hohepa, M.K (2005) ‘Reading to Learn in Māori Medium Contexts’. Workshop session for Kia Ata Mai and University of Auckland Nga Taumatua Literacy Programme, Tainui Endowed College, Hopuhopu, 5 August, 2005.
• Pihama, L.E. & Hohepa, M.K. (2005). Kaupapa Māori Theory and Research: Indigenous Transformation. Paper presented at the World Indigenous People’s Conference for Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 27 November – 1 December, 2005.
• Hohepa, M. Whakawhānuitia te Hinengaro.  Invited presentation to Kia Ata Mai and University of Waikato Ngā Taumatua Programme, Tainui Endowed College, Hopuhopu, Ngaruawahia, 29 March, 2006.
• Hohepa, M. ‘Kura kids’ going to the library. Invited presentation to Te Rōpū Whakahau Tai Tokerau (Northland Māori Librarians Group), Ngunguru Marae, Whangarei, 1-2 September, 2006.
• Hohepa, M. Te Reo Matatini – Mai te Kāinga ki te Kura. Invited keynote Speaker to Te Hui-a-Tau o ngā Kaitakawaenga Māori o Aotearoa, Annual conference of Resource Teachers of Māori, Copthorne Hotel, Waitangi, 18 July, 2007.
• Hohepa, M., Williams, N., & Barber, B. (2007). Māori language reading comprehension. Paper presented at the Language, Education and Diversity Conference, University of Waikato 21-24 November, 2007.