Raiha Cook grew up attending kura Māori, but when she decided to study at the University of Otago she found the move from te ao Māori to European-style learning difficult. Now she’s researching that transition to help make it easier for students to feel safe at mainstream universities. Set in the spray of Raukawa Moana, … Read more
The low-down on the lockdown educational TV channels, which launch tomorrow. We’re still in lockdown, but term two begins this week. What’s the story with the new TV channels? This week sees the launch of two new television channels dedicated to broadcasting educational programmes for school students during the Covid-19 lockdown. The first is Home … Read more
Te Huka Mātauraka, the University of Otago Māori Centre, celebrates its 30th birthday this year as a crucial part of life for the university’s Māori students. Its manager Pearl Matahiki and student Sarafina Tipene reflect on what the centre means for them. In 2017 when Sarafina Tipene left home to attend the University of Otago … Read more
When the University of Otago was founded 150 years ago the interests of local Māori were disregarded. But now, in the last 50 years, engagement with tangata whenua has become an essential part of the university’s identity. New Zealand’s first university was co-founded by a controversial Scottish politician determined to make something of himself in … Read more
The Monday Extract: Wellington writer John-Paul Powley pulls together Parihaka, imperialism, capitalism, and catered lunches at education conferences in a searching essay on Māori achievement. “This bird [the ruru] with a hundred eyes was venerated in Taranaki, where Te Whiti had chosen this symbol and the stalking Pakeha cat for an action song depicting events that … Read more
A new programme being rolled out in 111 schools teaches students how to manage money – and the difference between good and bad debt. In Porirua East the houses look like Monopoly hotels. Two-storied, sturdy state houses that are more giant blocks than anything else. They’re good homes, with beautiful wooden floors (if you happened … Read more
In her first post for Te Puna Kōrero, a new blogging platform for Māori education and kaupapa, Māori research expert Linda Tuhiwai Smith takes stock of how far we’ve come, and at what cost. It’s 2018. We’ve had almost 30 years of Māori education resurgence with specific and innovative developments led by Kōhanga Reo, Kura … Read more
Māori students studying medicine at the University of Otago say they’re fed up with the ignorance they face over the way they’re selected into their second year of study, writes Te Aniwa Hurihanganui for RNZ. There are limited spaces in the second-year program and everyone in their first year has to reach a grade threshold. … Read more
Charter schools are no silver bullet, but the principle behind kura hourua is a form of rangatiratanga (sovereignty) in action. The kōhanga reo example is a reminder that Māori education is too important to fall victim to partisan battles, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. The Anglican missionaries who arrived in Aotearoa in 1814 came with a mission: convert … Read more
They’ve left wiggle room for some rainy day expenses, but the Labour-led government more than anything has sought to sell today’s funding announcements as an exercise in cleaning up National’s mess. Rebecca Stevenson reports from Wellington Grant Robertson hammered a few key messages in his budget address today: this is a budget that will lay … Read more
Studies show high levels of racial bias and discrimination in schools continues to disadvantage Māori and Pasifika children. Some say a new initiative has already yielded results but isn’t getting the support it needs. The Ministry of Education has told the government it could achieve a “step change” in Māori children’s achievement by tackling their … Read more
The only Pasifika woman on a school board talks about the dangers of a lack of diversity – and makes a plea for other parents to support their schools. I’m a trustee on a lower decile school board attended at various times by all three of my children. I became involved with the school for … Read more
Opinion: Some would have you believe that charter schools are the only ones transforming education for Māori and Pasifika children. That’s just not true, argues Laures Park. Success for all tamariki is the aim of education. It’s what their parents, their whānau, their teachers and their communities all want. But claims that charter schools are … Read more