Dani Pickering

PhD Candidate in Sociology

Restoring relationality: tracing the evolving cognitive praxis of the Tiriti education movement

My research concerns the Tiriti education movement in Aotearoa/New Zealand, whose activity is focused on the development of more conciliatory and equitable relations between Māori and tauiwi/non-Māori based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, rather than the oppressive dynamics of colonisation. The main activity through which the movement has historically pursued these goals is through “treaty workshops” run through communities and organisations, but how have these practices and the thinking behind them evolved over the last four decades in response to changes in the sociopolitical climate? How might the movement need to continue to adapt to pursue a Tiriti-based society in the years to come?

Through collaboration with veteran Tiriti educators from across the country, I consider how the cognitive praxis of the movement has responded previously to the intersections of settler-colonialism, white supremacy and capitalism in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I also explore the movement’s focus on engaging Pākehā, the dominant group in this colonised society, and interrogate how it both supplements the Māori pursuit of tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake and limits the movement’s scope to the Māori-Pākehā relationship when there also are many other non-Māori peoples with a stake in Tiriti-based futures.

Contact: dani.pickering@vuw.ac.nz