Te Kāwai Kūmara

Project Description

This project aims to build the research capability and capacity of Māori learners by supporting them through advanced digital technologies. Firstly, this project will pilot a comprehensive suite of interactive teaching and learning techniques across multiple sites. Secondly, best practice techniques will be developed to support the teaching and learning of te reo Māori at the postgraduate level. Ultimately, this project aims to develop a cohort of Māori supervisors capable of supervising theses students in te reo Māori.

Project Team

• Professor Tania Ka’ai (Project Leader), AUT University
• Te Ripowai Higgins, Victoria University of Wellington and Te Ātaarangi National Trust
• Dr Timoti Kāretu, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
• Dr Katerina Mataira, Te Ātaarangi National Trust
• Dr Wharehuia Milroy, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
• Professor John Moorfield, AUT University
• Hana O’Regan, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
• Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru, esteemed kaumātua

Project Funding

$128,889 GST exc

Key Dates

Project commences: early 2009

Expected project completion: late 2010

Project Outputs

Presentation about the project at the Ako Aotearoa Research in Progress Colloquium 2010 (click on ppt image to left)

Presentation about the project at the Ako Aotearoa Research in Progress Colloquium 2009 (click image to left)

Project Aims

This project aims to build the research capability and capacity of Māori learners by supporting them through advanced digital technologies. The project will pilot a comprehensive suite of interactive teaching and learning techniques across multiple sites. Best practice techniques will be developed to support the teaching and learning of te reo Māori at the postgraduate level. In combination, this project seeks to develop a cohort of Māori - speaking supervisors  to supervise students through to completion, who elect to write their theses in te reo Māori.  Increased collaboration will result in the development of a shared postgraduate programme in te reo Māori, enhancing the digital literacy of learners and lecturers in te reo Māori.

Project Team

Professor Tania Ka’ai (Project Leader), AUT University

Tania is an alumni of Waikato, Auckland and Harvard Universities. She has worked in tertiary education for 21 years; 12 of these in university education as a Professor.  She joined Te Ara Poutama in July 2007 and was appointed Director of Te Ipukarea –the National Māori Language Institute in July 2008. Tania is Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu and Hawaiian.

Te Ripowai Higgins, Victoria University of Wellington and Te Ātaarangi National Trust

Of Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Ripowai joined Te Kawa a Māui at Victoria University of Wellington as a lecturer in 1989 and later became a senior lecturer and then Head of School from 1999 to 2004. Since 2004 she has been Taurima of Te Herenga Waka Marae where she has been the Ruahine since 1991.

Dr Timoti Kāretu, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

Timoti is from Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungungu. He is regarded as an expert of the Māori Language and Kapa Haka.  In 1970 he was the first Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Waikato. He was appointed as the first Māori Language Commissioner in 1987. He has been chairman of the Kōhanga Reo National Trust since 2003.  He is now the head of the Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language [ Te Panikiretanga o te Reo Māori].  He has received honorary doctorates from Victoria University and The University of Waikato.

Dr Katerina Mataira, Te Ātaarangi National Trust

Katerina is from Ngāti Porou on the East Coast.  She is most well known for her many books written in te reo Māori. Along with Ngoi Pewhairangi she began Te Ātaairangi movement aimed at providing an iwi-based learning environment for adult second language learners. In 1996 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato.

Dr Wharehuia Milroy, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

From Tūhoe, Te Wharehuia Milroy is considered an expert of Māori language and tikanga Māori.  In recognition of his contribution to the knowledge and development of te reo Māori and his work in the university he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato in 2005. He is now one of the principal tutors of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa,  an invitation - only course aimed at developing expert speakers of te reo Māori.  Te Wharehuia has been on the board of the Maori Language Commission, the Waikato Museum and an advisor for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.

Professor John Moorfield, AUT University

John has been Professor in Māori Innovation and Development at Te Ara Poutama, the Faculty of Māori Development since July 2007. He is a specialist in Māori language, literature and culture, including teaching Māori as a second language to adults.  John is most well known for the Māori language resources he has developed over the last 24 years known as the Te Whanake Collection.

Hana O’Regan, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology

From Ngāi Tahu, Hana has been very involved in the revival of Ngāi Tahu dialect, primarily as a teacher of Māori language in the South Island. She is currently the Dean of Te Puna Wānaka at the Christchurch Institute of Technology in Christchurch.  Hana is also a composer and writer in te reo Māori.  She has published several Māori language resources.

Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru, esteemed kaumātua

Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru (Tangahoe, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, Ngā Ruahine, Taranaki, Ngāpuhi) is best known for lodging the ‘Te Reo Māori Claim’ with the Waitangi Tribunal as head of Ngā Kaiwhakpumau i te Reo Māori (Wellington Māori Language Board). The claim focused on the need for the official recognition of the Māori language and the end result was the Maori Language Act 1987, making te reo Māori an official language of New Zealand. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – the Māori Language Commission – was also established under the Act. In the late 1980s to 1993, Dr Waikerepuru worked with the New Zealand Māori Council on a Privy Council case, arguing that the Government should recognise and protect Māori language as a taonga under the Treaty of Waitangi in relation to the allocation of New Zealand’s broadcasting assets.  This later led to the establishment of the Māori broadcasting funding agency, Te Māngai Pāho, and ultimately, Māori Television. In 1995, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Waikato University, acknowledging his achievement in both tertiary education and Māori language communities.

Project design and methods

• Development of a pilot curriculum to be taught across multiple sites
• Using smart boards and video-conferencing technology to create a classroom across multiple sites; Te Ara Potama at AUT University in Auckland, Te Kawa a Maui/Te Herenga Waka at Victoria University in Wellington and Te Puna Wanaka at CPIT in Christchurch
• Smart board and video-conferencing technology creates a fully interactive environment between students and lecturers from all three sites.  This encourages dialogue between the sites and the technology has the capability for all three smart boards to co-browse and share data in real time

 Project outcomes

• Increased collaboration between universities, polytechnics and wānanga
• Increase in digital capacity and competency of Māori scholars, lecturers and students
• Development of a shared programme at postgraduate level in te reo Māori
• Delivery and design of a shared postgraduate curriculum in te reo Māori