Democracy meets rangatiratanga: Playcentre's bicultural journey 1989-2011
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the implementation of biculturalism in the New Zealand Playcentre Federation between 1989, when a public commitment to The Treaty of Waitangi was made, and 2011, when Tiriti-based co-presidents were elected.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were drawn from the Playcentre Journal and papers from Playcentre National meetings, as well as from the author's experience as a Pākehā participating in Playcentre. The events are analysed using democratic theory.
Findings
Despite a willingness to encompass biculturalism, the processes of democracy as originally enacted by Playcentre hindered changes that allowed meaningful rangatiratanga (self-determination) by the Māori people within Playcentre. The factors that enabled rangatiratanga to gain acceptance were: changing to consensus decision making, allowing sub groups control over some decisions, and the adult education programme. These changes were made only after periods of open conflict. The structural changes that occurred in 2011 were the result of two decades of persistence and experimentation to find a way of honouring Te Tiriti within a democratic organisation.
Social implications
The findings suggest that cultural pluralism within a liberal democratic organisation is best supported with an agonistic approach, where an underlying consensus of world view is not assumed but instead relies on a commitment by the different cultures to retaining the political association within the structure of the organisation.
Originality/value
Many organisations in New Zealand, especially in education, struggle to implement biculturalism, and the findings of this study could be useful for informing policy in such organisations. This history of Playcentre continues from where previous histories finished.
Keywords
Citation
Manning, S. (2014), "Democracy meets rangatiratanga: Playcentre's bicultural journey 1989-2011", History of Education Review, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 31-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-10-2012-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited