Complex Considerations for Critical Qualitative Childhood Studies: A Perspective From Aotearoa (New Zealand)

Abstract

This article considers the complexities of the historical and current context for critical qualitative childhood studies in Aotearoa (New Zealand), a country with a two-century history of colonization by Britain of the Indigenous people, the Māori. This was despite the undertakings of the British contained within a treaty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi to uphold Māori authority over their lands, resources, and things of value, as equal citizens to the British settlers. Māori children were traditionally deeply respected and their contributions to collective decision-making valued. In blatant disregard of these treaty obligations, Māori have been severely impacted by warfare, introduced diseases, and dispossession of lands, language, and identity. There remains within current educational practice a long-standing historical amnesia and wilful ignorance of the intergenerational trauma that has resulted. This extends to the pedagogical and research implications for working in this context of colonization. This piece therefore considers how those who work in tertiary settings, particularly critical childhood studies scholars, might challenge the ongoing hegemonies of White privilege and complacency to create new ethical imaginaries in our teaching and scholarship, research methodology courses, and ethical review processes, beyond token mention of Māori concerns.