He Kaupapa Mana Wāhine: Re-imagining Leadership Pathways for Wāhine Māori Leaders in Mainstream Primary Schools

Abstract

This kōrero-based wānanga—a collaborative space for shared learning and collective reflection—draws on an emerging doctoral research project. It explores mana wāhine-informed leadership pathways—a culturally grounded way of being and leading—for wāhine Māori within mainstream primary schools. This session intentionally engages the wider community of educational leaders as allies in this work.

Honouring the past, we acknowledge mana wāhine as a living legacy carried by tūpuna wāhine (female ancestors), grounded in whakapapa (lineage), mana (prestige), and wairua (spirit). Embracing the present, it reflects on how wāhine Māori leaders navigate mainstream settings shaped by Western norms while centring cultural integrity, relational practice, and collective wellbeing.

Designing for the future, the wānanga opens space to re-imagine culturally grounded and sustaining leadership pathways. These pathways support wāhine Māori to lead authentically while working alongside others in shared leadership contexts. Positioned as research-in-progress, this session prioritises dialogue over presentation. Participants are invited to consider how mana wāhine can inform everyday practice, strengthening relationships and creating more hopeful, connected futures for tamariki (children), whānau (families), and those who lead with them. We welcome leaders at all stages committed to relational, future-focused leadership.

Biography