Nola Tipa is exploring the value of providing authentic cultural experiences for facilitators who work with school teachers.

The Universities of Canterbury and Otago provide professional learning and development opportunities for schools funded by the Ministry of Education. Their facilitators visit the schools and provide training that the schools have requested.  These facilitators are subject specialists, however may not have had the opportunity to experience te ao Māori through a cultural lens.

 To fill this gap Ngāi Tahu have been providing cultural experiences which include compulsory noho marae for all facilitators. As there are approximately 500 schools within the Ngāi Tahu rohe, iwi, whānau and rūnanga cannot reach them all so facilitators' learning at the marae will be used as a platform when they are in schools. Lifting the cultural skillbase of the facilitators enables them to follow tikanga Mãori when they meet with teachers in the schools, helping the schools to increase their confidence to implement the Mãori way of doing things. 

Nola's research as a Masters student at Otago Polytechnic, under Professor Samuel Mann's supervision, has looked at what if any added value  providing the authentic cultural  experience of noho marae have for these facilitators most of who are non-Māori. She has found that the work with the facilitators has not just helped with their professional development, in delivering training to teachers, but also benefited the facilitators personally as well. The benefits from professional development of the facilitators flow on to the teachers, and to the students as well because what is good for Māori helps other students too.

 Read more about the Master of Professional Practice programme here.