Our Te Waharoa ki Te Reo Māori program for teachers in Term Three filled up quickly and feedback suggests we should run this again in 2024.

As educators we need to be responsive to bicultural practices and to demonstrate a current engagement with and knowledge of Te Reo Māori. We also need to have more fun, something that Te Waharoa managed to combine in Term Three!

Through the program this year, learners practiced pronunciation and simple sentence structures to introduce themselves and be better equipped with the tools to engage in conversations.

Tikanga Māori was weaved throughout the program and encouraged individuals to make deeper, meaningful connections with te ao māori, themselves and the language through karakia (prayer), waiata (songs) and pepeha (proverbial sayings).

This pilot program was aimed at supporting teachers to develop and practice these taonga tuku iho (gifts), supporting them to bring te ao Māori into their teaching practice to better meet the needs of Māori ākonga. It also contributes to Teaching Council requirements for registration. 

The feedback was very positive. Here are some comments below:

"I would love a next level reo class as I have the basics."

"I have enjoyed the pace of the class as it’s not moving ahead too fast and I feel like I can keep going back without missing out on too much".

"I would love to continue this program".

"The program has increased confidence to pronounce kupu and give it a go". "Really enjoyed the class and getting together with others on the same path".

Stay tuned as the Lead Team will meet this month to plan for sessions as part of the PLD strategy for next year.