Abstract:
Although we know that much of what counts as knowledge is socially constructed, the impact of political and economic forces on teacher education programmes in many Western societies has tended to construct "official" pedagogic discourses which marginalise or preclude other ways of knowing. In exploring how mature-aged Mäori women construct professional knowledge for physical education through their pre-service primary teacher education experiences, I have been particularly interested in how they connect cultural identity, their own lived experiences from a Mäori world view, and Western knowledge. I have drawn on the work of Foucault (1980), Lave and Wenger (1991), Giddens (1991), Hall (1996) and other postmodern theorists, to provide a framework for exploring how dilemmas of identity can be negotiated and mediated through the reflexive ordering of personal narratives. However, the research process itself presents a number of ethical and methodological issues with regard to respecting culturally appropriate ways of accessing Mäori knowledge. This paper problematises that process, and addresses issues of initiation, benefits, representation, legitimation and accountability of the research.