Section 4: Culturally Responsive and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CRSP)

[See Toolkit for further information about CRSP].

Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogy as a Principled Approach to Enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Education

Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogies (CRSP) provides a principled framework for enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi within education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It positions the treaty not as symbolic policy, but as a living foundation for teaching practice. CRSP aligns closely with Te Tiriti’s core principles, particularly: partnership, active protection, ōritetanga and tino rangatiratanga—by rejecting assimilationist approaches and instead embedding mātauranga Māori, te reo Māori, and tikanga Māori across all aspects of curriculum and pedagogy. In doing so, it ensures Māori learners can sustain their cultural identities while also accessing wider knowledge systems, reflecting a vision of an equitable Aotearoa New Zealand education system.

Through the principle of active protection for example, CRSP requires educators to move beyond superficial inclusion of Māori content toward deliberate, sustained action that strengthens Māori language, identity, and knowledge systems in everyday teaching. Importantly, it addresses gaps in teacher confidence and capability by framing cultural competency as an ongoing professional responsibility, not a one-off task. At the same time, CRSP enacts partnership through a teacher’s deliberate acts to redistribute power within learning environments—positioning Māori learners, whānau, and communities as co-constructors of knowledge rather than passive recipients. This shift challenges Eurocentric norms and creates space for Indigenous perspectives to shape both what is taught and how it is taught.