The Visibility of an Indigenized Curriculum during Covid 19 New Zealand. An Exploration of the Experience from Indigenous Academics

The 2020 Covid19 global pandemic disrupted teaching practices of 8 universities and 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) in New Zealand. This disruption led to the curriculum being transferred from internal classes to online delivery. It unleashed a surge of research activity and publications in the education sector. However, little research was conducted to investigate the effect to the academic experience and even less research explored the impact to Indigenized curriculums. This paper explored websites for the visibility of Indigenous programmes and Indigenous academic experiences. It does this by: 1) describing the 8 universities and 16 Polytechnics for context; 2) identifying the type of Indigenous Schools/Faculties in universities and ITPs and whether Indigenous programmes of study were visible; 3) two authors providing personal accounts as Indigenous academics moving from internal teaching to online delivery. Specific mention is made of an Indigenous avatar named “Digi Hami from NZ.” The exploration utilized a Māori-Centered and social research approach. The analysis drew main themes and suggested that some universities and ITPs were better prepared in the transition and the virtual mode of teaching was unable to retain the same quality and depth of learning required for an Indigenized curriculum. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjer World Journal of Educational Research Vol. 8, No. 4, 2021 90 Published by SCHOLINK INC.


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Published by SCHOLINK INC. sector. This article briefly addresses this lack of consideration by answering these questions: 1) What Indigenised programmes were visible online in the 8 universities and 16 ITPs?
2) How did Covid19 impact on Indigenous academics' ability to teach Indigenous knowledge during the 2020 Covid19 Lockdown Level 4?
The next sections discuss the methods, the universities, and ITPs. It forms the foundation from which a journey can be told of Indigenous stories and how Covid19 impacted on Indigenous academics and the programmes they taught. It starts with locating the research approach in an Indigenous framework.

Māori-Centered Research
This research applied a Māori-centered research approach. In doing so Māori knowledge was the focus of the research because the researchers were researching a Māori phenomenon. This approach enabled the design, implementation, and interpretation of results to be heavily laden with Indigenous knowledge. (Cunningham & Durie, 1998;Smith, 1999;Hudson, Milne, Reynolds, Russell, & Smith, 2010). Table 1by Cunningham and Durie (1998)

Social Research Methods
The research also utilised social research methods. It applied quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore the impact to the Indigenised curriculums and the challenges Māori academics encountered during Covid19. The following data displays tables that: i. Shows the 8 universities and 16 ITPs to place the discussions in context. Therefore, a search of websites, education institutions, and government documents was done to gather this data.
ii. identify the type of Indigenous Schools or Faculties in each university and ITPs and whether they deliver Indigenous specific academic programmes of study during Covid19. It also provides qualitative descriptions of the data and singled out identifications of mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).
Identifying this information proved challenging because "mātauranga Māori is a modern term for a body of knowledge" (Royal, 2009, p. 31) and finding it within the 8 universities or 16 ITPs was difficult to locate as searches did not yield automatic results whereas the term Pōwhiri, which is a ritual of encounter (Moorfield, 2021), was an example of excising mātauranga Māori that was visible.
Therefore, the concept of Pōwhiri was adopted to gather information on whether an Indigenise curriculum was visible.
iii. two authors provide personal accounts as Indigenous academics moving from internal teaching to online teaching. The two Indigenous academics teach in a tertiary sector, one from a university, and one from an ITP.   (2021) stipulate that these universities are ranked in the top 3% of 500 universities in the world. Also, that they have 22 of their subjects ranked within the top 50 universities and a strong reputation that captures a large cohort of international students who chose to study in New Zealand (ibid, p. 1). The names of the 16 ITPs in New Zealand are displayed in Table 3. These ITPs provide a range of educational services such as agriculture, business administration, IT, arts, trades, sports science, health and wellbeing, and nursing to deliver vocational education and training for various sectors in society.

Method One-Universities and ITPs
However, current government restructuring has seen 16 ITPs amalgamated into one organisation named Te Pūkenga (Indigenous name) and English name New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST) (The Tertiary Education Commission, 2021).  Table 4 and Table 5 show the results of data collections. It highlighted the number of faculties/colleges, the specific Māori or Indigenous faculties, schools, and units and whether a degree or certification in Indigenous knowledge was offered. It also uncovered a myriad of governance subsidiaries and ITPs referred to their units as either department, schools, center's, or faculties. For clarity and simplicity all governance structures were captured as departments. Where there was information not visible the abbreviation "NV" if subject areas represented Māori knowledge these were included. Often subject areas were good indicators of the associated department, and this data was collected over a two-week period in 2021. Note. NV = Not Visible. Table 6 and Table 7 highlighted whether an online course was offered during Covid19. These tables also indicate whether the tertiary institution mentioned Pōwhiri and as stated earlier this concept was applied to identify mātauranga Māori being taught during Lockdown Level 4. It also displays which universities and ITPs offered an indigenised curriculum and the value of Indigenous knowledge in the institutions were shown by the establishment of Māori units, departments, or faculties.  Note. NV = Not Visible.

Method Three: Personal Account
Two Indigenous academics gave a personal account of teaching in an indigenized curriculum online during Covid19 Lockdown Level 4. One academic has worked for about two decades in a university environment in New Zealand. This academic continues to teach Māori knowledge in an indigenized curriculum. One academic works in the ITP sector for over two decades in computing and information technology. This academic continues to teach computing technology and had adopted an Indigenous approach in delivery and practice. They also created "Digi Hami" the "Indigenous Avatar".

Content Analysis
A quantitative and qualitative data analysis approach was used to analyse the data. Content analysis was selected as a process to describe and classify data. (Powers & Knapp, 2006) It enabled the characteristics of the data to be examined by looking at the content in terms of what is written, how it is written, and whether it applies to the focus of the research. The online information and programmes for the universities were relatively easy to access. For the 16 ITPs the access was challenging and required more than three searches to find information. Many times, the outcome produced data that could not be used, for example, the number of units delivering Māori knowledge were invisible and unable to be ascertained at the time the search was undertaken. Compounding this lack of visibility, was the emergent content in the literature regarding ITPs merging because of a government sustainability initiative (TEC, 2021) and that we were conducting this research in 2021 and content from 2020 may have been removed.
Consequently, assumptions were made by the researchers to indicate that this government initiative had an impact on the way Māori knowledge was visible or invisible that resulted in inconsistent websites in this sector. Also, the search yielded restrictions to the access of public documents in the universities and ITPs and in some cases required student or staff login to undertake further investigation; thus, limiting the broader analysis of content available.

Results & Discussions
The results were grouped together under the themes: Covid19 Visible, Mātauranga Māori Visible, Online Delivery Visible, and Pōwhiri Visible. These themes were in synchronicity with the method of approach to showcase the exploration of the New Zealand experience. Where specific information was not visible when the searches were conducted this was indicated on the table. This was also the approach for information that was visible and the main search engines used was Google. The following explanations provide an overview of the content that was analysed.

Covid19 Visible
Information to students and staff about Covid19 was given specific consideration and deemed of high importance. Subsequently, the 8 universities and 16 ITPs provided online delivery of course content and details of what students could expect under Covid19 conditions. They also uploaded online dedicated web pages to Covid19 information with some making specific commentary on lockdown operational procedures. Some universities provided a lot of information that was accessible to the public and others required student or staff to login. There were also links made available on the university websites to government pages and QRC code. This coincided with government's direction during the pandemic when class delivery ceased in 2020.

Mātauranga Māori Visible
The search to locate mātauranga Māori produced interesting findings. Seven universities displayed information on mātauranga Māori that was strong when it coincided with the visibility of Māori units and/or degreeprogrammes. The concept of Pōwhiri was visible in 50% of the universities; this reinforced the value of mātauranga Māori in these institutions during Covid19 lockdown. Subsequently, many universities offered an Indigenise programmes that taught Māori knowledge.
The ITP sector provided a mixture of courses related to mātauranga Māori. There were 13 out of 16 ITPs that identified mātauranga Māoribeing visible. Also, 9 out of 16 ITPs displayed Pōwhiri as visible equating to about 65% and like the universities showed a commitment to Indigenising the curriculum.

Online Delivery Visible
The 8 universities provided a range of online courses during Covid19 Lockdown Level 4. The quality of the online delivery was not sort in this research. Rather, the acknowledgement in the content on the websites was the evidence of this occurring. The information for 11 out of the 16 ITPs were easy to access regarding how they provided online courses during Covid19 Lockdown Level 4. Being able to access this information can be attributed to the ability of the institutions to retain 2020 data in 2021 and/or archive this type of information. Subsequently, the information from the remaining ITPs was not visible during the time of data collection.

Pōwhiri Visible
During Covid19 it became clear across the websites that Pōwhiri on-campus was cancelled for all universities. This seem to indicate that online Pōwhiri were replacing internal encounters. For example, Massey Univesity cancelled their Pōwhiri during Lockdown Level 4 and alerted all staff, students, and the wider community. (Massey University, 2020) and also held one of the first conferences online where a Pōwhiri welcomed the attendees (HDCA, 2020). Also, some institutions made available online types of Pōwhiri while other universities were not that specific in making visible this type of information.
The ITPs also cancelled on-campus Pōwhiri. Some delivered virtual online Pōwhirilike Waikato Institute of Technology by putting students and staff into a Zoom session and simulated Pōwhiri protocols. This type of adjustment enabled Pōwhiri to be visible and reinforced the values of mātauranga Māori and the indigenisation of the curriculum.
Consequently, for those students whose qualifications required them to undertake classes in tribal villages and with elders this type of online learning was absent of these things. It became apparent that to try and offer this type of learning online would require the elders in the tribal villages to come on board, have strong internet connections, understand online technology and software, and deliver their knowledge through these mediums using specific software. Subsequently, I did not entertain placing this type of pressure on the Indigenous communities given the issues with keeping their communities safe and the personal cost for them to prepare these things. More importantly, the onus was on me, the Indigenous academic, to make this teaching work than expect that type of work from the elders in our community. As an Indigenous academic it is of utmost importance to respect our elders and the communities they represent, and resist placing pressure on them. Therefore, activities like Pōwhiri and going into tribal villages for students to learn about Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) by experiencing the culture and staying on a marae (tribal communal houses) were suspended until such time the elders, the tribal villages, the universities and the nation were allowed out of their "bubbles" and safety procedures in place.
Indigenising a curriculum using Indigenous avatars was unknown to me until lockdown. Whilst in lockdown I experienced an increase in meetings and saw for the first time 'Digi Hami' in a Zoom meeting. I was impressed at the animations appearing behind Hami (name of creator) as it also showed videos and pictures of students in classes, and "Digi Hami" walked across the screen teaching and talking. It is well documented in literature regarding the Indigenous Māori people of New Zealand that Indigenous students feel at ease spiritually and physically when they see an Indigenous lecturer on campuses or educating them. For me, it opened a wealth of ideas on how this concept of Indigenous avatars could assist in delivering an Indigenous curriculum in a world of Covid19. However, very little effort was given to test this idea because energy and time for me was spent using existing resources to deliver courses online, making sure the WIFI signal was strong, attending various meetings for the groups I affiliated to, providing academic support to the students and staff, and the academy.

ITP Experience
Hearing across the YouTube live podcast television the voice from our leader Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern telling the nation of Level 3 Lockdown impelled me to setup workstations at home. The first workstation I setup was Workstation A: the lecturer. This setup initially involved attaining basic equipment from work like a headset then purchasing using personal funds for a webcam, a 3X2 meter green filter screen cloth, an old adjustable coat hanger rack to drape the filter cloth over that enabled me to create a green screen for the Zoom virtual background. Using Zoom was new for me. Lockdown Level 3 allowed me to return to work and obtain a spare lab computer with a USB dongle WIFI to assist with the establishment of Workstation B: the student. Setting up two workstations helped me to understand the teaching environment using skillets from professional software engineers and HCI experts in which we would replicate the internal class environment online. By having Workstation A: the lecturer, and Workstation B: the student, I could begin the process of generating online teaching

Concluding Comments
Covid19 Lockdown Level 4 forced many institutions to transfer from internal teaching to online teaching. There were some universities and ITPs that eased into this transition while others struggled to put online systems in place. The universities and ITPs provided courses during the lockdown period, support to the students enrolled in their courses, and performed adequately in the global pandemic.
Although the wellbeing of students and the ability for students to access courses online was highlighted as a priority in the research, unfortunately the same emphasis was not attributed to the academics.
The impact to Indigenised curriculums was relatively silent during Covid19 Lockdown Level 4.
Utilising the concept of Pōwhiri to bring a voice to the silence in the research highlighted that most universities and ITPs valued educating students on Māori knowledge, the Indigenous knowledge in New Zealand. Also, some universities went a step further in valuing Māori knowledge by having established faculties and schools. For the ITPs this value was continued in the various certification made available for students to choose from. When reconsidering the personal accounts from an Indigenous academic in the university and an Indigenous academic in the ITP sector it can be deduced that Indigenous academics were silent during lockdown because they were busy adjusting to the teaching conditions and making their programmes work in unprecedented conditions.
The tables, data, and commentary allow the New Zealand academic experience to be told. The data also enabled the Indigenised programmes to be visible for the 8 universities and 16 ITPs, identified the range of courses that was available, and the personal commentaries spoke to the impact on Indigenous academics and their ability to teach Indigenous knowledge during lockdown. Since Lockdown Level 4 in 2020 New Zealand went into lockdown again in 2021 and restrictions to teaching was placed on the Auckland campuses for universities and ITPs. Even though it was at a lower level, the ongoing requirements to teach an Indigenised curriculum to students online still requires investigation. A possible way forward maybe to utilise the technological developments like "Digi Hami" the Indigenous Avatar to address these challenges given that Covid19 appears to be a global pandemic that will be around for a long time. This article opens the doorway for other Indigenous stories to be spoken and experiences during the Covid19 global pandemic be written about and discussed on a world stage.