Eighty Years of Growing Up kapo (blind) Maori: What Can We Learn about Inclusive Education in New Zealand?

This paper presents some of the results from a 2-year, qualitative study entitled "Growing up kapo Maori: Identity, whanau, and cultural well being." It explores the educational experiences of 10 Maori (indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand), who are kapo (blind/vision impaired) of various ages up to the age of 80, and their whanau (family). In this research, four common themes emerged, including (1) visibility and invisibility, (2) cultural location and dislocation, (3) cultural consonance and dissonance, and (4) transformation and change. These themes are discussed in this paper in relation to the participants' educational experiences. Overall, schools had difficulty providing both culturally appropriate education and educational support for the participants' vision impairment. Inclusive education options for kapo Maori tamariki/rangatahi and their whanau were limited. However, the participants articulated aspirations for education in their own communities, with their whanau that would value them as Maori who happen to also be kapo. In order to realise these aspirations, the participants and their whanau moved not only between educational settings but also towns.