1. Aims, objectives, and research questions Kō ta te rangatira kai he kōrero As described in the whakatauaki (proverb) above, language is the food of chiefs because fluency in it provides access to and control of learning. Khisty and Chval (2002) summarised the effect of this by stating, “[i]n essence, those with power are literate or in control of a discourse” (p. 167). Although Māori students who attend Māori immersion programmes do better than those attending mainstream schooling, generally they do not perform as well as other students in mathematics (Anthony & Walshaw, 2006 forthcoming). One of the reasons for this may be the difficulties Māori students have with the mathematics