Her research was approved by the University of Canterbury twenty minutes before the February 2011 earthquake hit, she has five children aged 5 – 14, she is the full time school principal of one of the fastest growing Māori immersion schools in New Zealand, and this week Melanie Riwai-Couch has graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Ph.D. in Education.
Dr Riwai-Couch’s Ph.D. investigated ways that schools and iwi (Māori tribes) can work together to better support Māori students at school. She looked at three case studies including representatives from the Ministry of Education, schools from the North and South Islands and iwi education spokespersons.
Read more about Dr Riwai-Couch’s study focus at Yahoo New Zealand News.
Melanie Riwai-Couch, her husband Jared, and their five children are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“My upbringing provided a lens through which to view my own educational practice, and a desire to improve education outcomes for Māori students,” she said yesterday.
“At age 15, I went to a Mormon boarding school in Hamilton, the Church College of New Zealand (CCNZ). The school introduced me to a very different life from that I had been accustomed to in Christchurch. Living in a dorm, our daily routine was tightly timetabled. There was a distinct hierarchy dependent on year levels, and high expectations with set consequences. Dorm parents tracked my participation and progress; dorm prefects tried to keep me in line. At a Church school there was the added bonus of Church leaders taking an active interest in my welfare.
"During this time at boarding school, extended whānau contributed to my education and upbringing. Some weekends I would stay with my cousins, the Reihanas, in Hamilton, or at other times my sister’s in-laws, the Pearce family, in Hikurangi, north of Whangarei. Cousin Waimarie told me the first time I visited that I should always remember to take my shoes off if I wanted to be accepted in a Māori home. I learnt from Uncle Chris that white sauce (cream) could be eaten with anything, and that my Aunty Piki, Waimarie’s mother, was actually my first cousin.
“In contrast to my earlier schooling in Christchurch, at CCNZ there was a strong cultural and values-based purpose for everything. There were Māori teachers who had high expectations, who encouraged participation in cultural activities, and who I also saw in a church and community-setting as parents and individuals. They wanted me to achieve both academically and also within the Church youth programme. The vision for overall success was consistent across the school, dorm, whānau and Church life, and this supported my academic achievement. Many of the students were high achievers in cultural performance, singing, dancing and sports. I was not a stand-out in those areas, but I did discover that I was good at learning.
“During my single year at CCNZ I sat and passed six academic subjects, including three science papers for Sixth Form Certificate 1. I received good grades, which allowed me provisional university entrance. To me, this is a direct example of student achievement being positively impacted because of the relationship with teachers and the values of the school. Two of my teachers at Church College motivated me to want to be a teacher. Brother Ngatai Smith and Brother Lloyd Keung both taught me how to learn and achieve at school. The connection between teacher and student was such that I wanted to achieve ‘for’ them. Once I felt valued and able to see myself as someone capable of learning, I started exploring the full potential of education.”
Dr Riwai-Couch believes success in education and in life is based on having a clear understanding of one’s identity, developing family and other relationships, learning, and helping others to achieve in these areas also.
“I will never forget who I am, who my whānau are, where I belong and how I got here. Being able to build relationships with Māori students who I consider to be from similar backgrounds to myself is an enabling factor for me, while also being able to see the many challenges of modern classrooms from the perspective of a mother, teacher and school leader.”