This article responds to the paucity of literature on Māori success and presents data from follow-up interviews with eight Māori young adults (pakeke), 6 years after they participated as secondary students (rangatahi) in an initial study titled Ka Awatea: An Iwi Case Study of Māori Students’ Success in 2014. Emerging outcomes reveal the central role of Māori culture and identity in their transition to adulthood. Secondary schooling nurtured their inner confidence and capacity to achieve, but did not play a significant role in development of positive Māori identity and cultural efficacy. However, as school-leavers approaching adulthood, they drew on their cultural efficacy and cultural assets, predominantly acquired from whānau, to navigate dominant culture environments. In doing so, they demonstrate that traditional Māori developmental paths have contemporary relevance, and that their roles—as cultural bearers, passing on the gifts of their ancestors—are fundamental to their aspirations and achievements.
Purpose
The research in the field of Indigenous peoples and the espousal of their cultural values in the work environment is recognised as being important as a means of overcoming workplace inequities. The purpose of this paper is to examine research about Maori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand that may inform future enterprises for the long-term prosperity of marginalised Indigenous peoples.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviews the literature on unique cultural dynamics of whanau Maori (New Zealand Maori family/community) study practices and the importance of work/home/life balance. Furthermore, it considers strengths-based community enterprises that can lead to sustainable prosperity for Maori.
Findings
The review yielded three theoretical principles that explain mana (sociocultural and psychological well-being), which can be generalised across multiple contexts, with the workplace being one of these contexts. These principles of mana create a contextual match with whanau external realities; an experiential match of a mana empowerment framework that transfers to the study context and an interpersonal understanding of being understood and empowered within the study context.
Research limitations/implications
The literature review has been limited to research from 2005 onwards and to research that investigates Maori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. Although the review of the literature has these limitations, the review may be of interest to other studies of Indigenous peoples worldwide.
Practical implications
The key factors are interwoven, and their importance is considered in relation to the development of positive and supportive environments, which link to job retention, satisfaction and productivity in the workplace for Maori. This, in turn, can have beneficial knock-on effects for not only the New Zealand economy but also more importantly for enhancing sustainable livelihoods for upcoming generations.
Social implications
Tied together, these factors are paramount for cultural, social and ecological benefits for nga rangatahi (young Maori adults) and the wider community in the workplace.
Originality/value
The literature review’s value and originality derive from a dearth of recent research on supporting nga rangatahi (young Maori adults) for sustainable prosperity.
Changing demographic patterns around the world are posing new challenges to the constructions of being, belonging, and identity, demanding a deeper insight into the dynamics that test the resolve of people to coexist more amicably. For school communities this means adopting a stance that positions students and teachers within a safe and enabling educational environment. How disciplinary protocols are embedded and enacted within these environments is critical to how coexistence is manifested. Very often authoritarian disciplinary sanctions are operationalized with spontaneity and are seen as a preferred "quick fix" for student behaviors that are deemed unacceptable. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that such courses of action can seriously hamper, rather than improve, a student's sense of being, belonging, and identityby negatively impacting on their attitude, behavior, and performance. These long-term
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.