Teaching our people for tomorrow’s classroom with the Poutāhū Whakaakoranga Akorau

July 04, 2019

For anyone passionate about entering a dynamic, rewarding teaching career who already hold an existing undergraduate degree and fluency in te reo Māori, the Poutāhū Whakaakoranga Akorau is a viable option.  

Not for the faint hearted, the qualification is the newest to be offered in Te Wānanga o Raukawa’ suite of programmes and is now in its second year.  The programme focuses on equipping students with the skills required to competently enter the classroom but has a heavy emphasis on blended learning and incorporating kaupapa Māori into the learning environment. 

“Blended learning is making sure that there is a balance between what is being delivered online and paper based, there has to be a strategy,” says Rangi Te Whiu, Pūkenga Matua for the Akorau programme. 

“This programme is unique in that it has been designed for the classroom environment of tomorrow and has kaupapa tuku iho wrapped around it so graduates are authentically teaching from our own lens, a Māori lens,” he says. 

“It gives them the opportunity to articulate, explore and defend the way Māori view and teach our children.” 

Graduates will be well equipped as they undertake seven weeks of practicum per semester, ensuring they are applying the knowledge learnt while attending noho or residential seminars at the Wānanga.  Like the majority of qualifications offered at the Wānanga, students also complete an iwi, hapū and reo paper but the core of the learning is teaching how to teach and the strategies that go along with that.  

Last year the Wānanga celebrated its first lot of graduates to go through the programme out of the 11 students who started at the beginning of 2018, ten attended graduation and the eleventh will go on to graduate with this year’s cohort. 

Ariana Reweti of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Porou and Ngā Rauru descent was one of the first to graduate. 

"The course is a good choice for those who love to learn in a hands-on way. I enjoyed the practical aspects,” she says.  “This programme has a focus on being hands-on in the classroom.  You get real first-hand experience which was a valuable way to learn.” Ariana is a kairīwhi at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rito. 

With only 15 spaces available on this programme in 2020, expressions of interest open from 5 July to 29 November.  Applicants will also be able to apply for the TEACHNZ Career Changer study award covering most of the costs for this programme. 

For anyone who does not hold an existing degree Te Wānanga o Raukawa offer a range of teacher training qualifications for those wanting to learn the art of teaching from a Māori world view.