Renee Gillies from Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology and Dr Hiria McRae from Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka shared the story of the Royal Society Te Apārangi Taiao Aronui programme at the national summit Science Education: Fit for Purpose. Taiao Aronui is a programme designed in collaboration with Rangitāmiro rōpū to inspire and elevate tamariki, whānau, hapū and iwi within Rotorua. This programme provides professional development leadership in pūtaiao and mātauranga Māori. The two shared the history of the programme and spoke to its aims and principles.
“Mokopuna Taiao means to be grounded in your whakapapa, knowing who you are, where you come from, the environment that surrounds you, and upholding your responsibility to the taiao – and of course your whānau, your hapu, your iwi.”
Renee Gillies, Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology
Prompting questions
- What professional learning opportunities as an educator have inspired you?
- What professional learning and development are you still looking for?
Transcript
Dr Hiria McRae
Koia te tuakana, engari, kei te pai. Kei te tū hūmaire ahau i mua i a koutou, te minenga i te ahiahi nei.
Te mihi tuatahi ki akoe Kahu, nāu i whakatau mai māua i te ahiahi nei.
Ki te Apārangi hoki, ko Kahu me Kura Tapirirangi, ā Tara hoki, ae ka mihi mā mātou.
Te Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, kei te mihi ki a koutou.
Te Rangitāmiro, ngā kura o Ngāti Whakaue nei, ngā tumuaki, ko Renee tētahi, ko ngā kaiako, kei reira rātou.
Mā wai, mā ngā tamariki mokopuna, mā ngā hāpori Māori, whānau Māori, tamariki Māori. A ko wai tēnei, nō Ngāti Whakaue ahau, he hononga anō tēnei ki Ngāti Kahungungu, ki Waimarama, ki Ngāi Tūhoe ki Ruatoki Ngāti Koura.
Kei te mihi, kei te mihi.
Renee Gilles
Tēnā rā koutou, mānawatia a Matariki.
Ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou, ki a tātou.
Ko Renee Gillies ahau. He uri ahau nō Te Arawa whānui me Ngāti Kahungungu hoki.
We are very privileged to be able to share our story with you this afternoon. I’ll begin.
As Kahu introduced our mahi, Taiao Aronui is an iwi education initiative that’s spearheaded by Rangitāmiro, the collective of our four Ngāti Whakaue kura in Rotorua. Ourselves, Te Rangihakahaka, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Koutu, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hurungaterangi and Rotorua Primary, Pukeroa Oruawhata. And it was our four kura that came together alongside Tā Toby, and I remember that initial hui in his office that continued, I guess, the dream of about iwi and the aspirations about iwi, of course, for our mokopuna, tamariki mokopuna.
Video plays
Tuia ki te rangi
Tuia ki te whenua
Tuia ki te moana
Tuia ki te herenga tangata
Ka rongo te pō, ka rongo te ao
Tīhei mauri ora!
Taiao Aronui is an iwi education initiative spearheaded by Rangitāmiro – a collective of four Ngāti Whakaue kura determined to realise mātauranga-ā-iwi within science education. Initiating from a desire by Tā Toby Curtis for education in Te Arawa to be grounded within our identity and unique environment, a professional science leadership programme has been realised. Taiao Aronui is led, designed and delivered by Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa for kaiako and kura with the support of our partners, Royal Society Te Apārangi and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Kaiako and tumuaki from the four kura now participate in an 18-month professional development programme delivered through a wānanga approach, a traditional and immersive way of learning, encompassing mātauranga pertaining to the aspects that make up our distinct environment here in Te Arawa.
During the school holidays, kaiako dedicate themselves in wānanga exploring:
- Ara Ahi – Our geothermal wonderland
- Wai – Our freshwater lakes and rivers
- Whenua – Our diverse landscape, and
- Ngahere – Our native flora and fauna
Between wānanga, kaiako draw upon Puna – expert support systems to further their development and practice, share and disseminate their learning, and cultivate connections with their community.
Taiao Aronui is realised by the support of mātauranga Māori experts, education and research specialists and science sector organisations.
We explore pūrakau, waiata, whakairo, karakia, kōrero tuku iho – our traditional repositories of knowledge.
We teach tikanga and kawa – our processes, policies and protocols.
We practice aroha, manaaki and whanaungatanga – our ways of being.
We investigate the synergies between mātauranga Māori and science as bodies of knowledge to enrich science learning and teaching.
Through Taiao Aronui kaiako are given the knowledge, tools and confidence to:
- Realise mātauranga ā-iwi in the science curriculum
- Reignite mātauranga ā-iwi within themselves as kaiako
- Recognise mātauranga ā-iwi within their tamariki mokopuna
Taiao Aronui is a collective responsibility to our children and our mokopuna.
He mokopuna taiao, he mokopuna o te ao.
Renee Gilles
That’s us. And that’s been us for the last few years now. Last year we came together again, once again, with the Royal Society, with our collective of experts, our principals, and we looked at where to now for our programme Taiao Aronui. And we’ve come up with new visions for ourselves. And you heard it then, in our video there and now, He mokopuna taiao, he mokopuna o te ao.
Mokopuna Taiao means to be grounded in your whakapapa, knowing who you are, where you come from, the environment that surrounds you, and upholding your responsibility to the taiao – and of course your whānau, your hapū, your iwi.
Mokopuna o te ao, raising Mokopuna Taiao instils confidence within our tamariki mokopuna to both recognise and realise unlimited potential to embrace the opportunities the world has to offer.
This is how we imagine he mokopuna taiao, he mokopuna o te ao.
We’ve also come up with some new whainga matua or objectives for our kaupapa: Realising mātauranga a iwi in the science curriculum, Reigniting mātauranga a iwi within our own kaiako, and recognising mātauranga a iwi within our tamariki and our mokopuna.
Whakapapa. This was mentioned by Kahu’s introduction and then also in our video there. 2018, the Royal Society met with Tā Toby, as you’ve heard and had some amazing discussions. And it was amazing to be sitting there with Tā Toby and just hearing and understanding his knowledge and his vision for the future of our collective – Te Arawa Collective. Relationships took place with ourselves and then the collective of Rangitāmiro, our kura.
And then of course 2020. We all know what happened in 2020. So there was delays. We kept going, as best we could. And then our first wānanga took place, Ara ahi. And of course, you know if you know Rotorua Te Arawa region, we have a unique environment there. And of course it was – there was no questions asked – it was our environment that we needed to learn more about.
Ara ahi, which is all around our geothermal activity. So our kaiako stayed right in amongst the geothermal activity at Whakarewarewa, we stayed the night there. Our kaiako experienced what that taonga means to our local people, how they utilise it in their daily lives.
And then of course we also had expertise like GNS. So our Crown Research Institutes also support a lot of our kaupapa and a lot of our wānanga. And so we were able to sit alongside our experts and then experts in Western science as well.
2022, we managed to do two wānanga that year, Wai and Te Wāo Nui o Tane. So of course, the abundance of water we have that surround us, looking at our lakes, rivers and streams. And then Te Wāo Nui of course, in our forests, the ngahere that surrounds our area.
Last year, 2023, we came to the end of the wānanga, and Whenua was our kaupapa. And then we had a whakanuia and we celebrated all those kaiako, all those teachers that came on that journey of Taiao Aronui. Also at the end of that year, we had an evaluation of the programme and it was done by Te Paetawhiti.
Dr Hiria McRae
Kia ora anō koutou.
So, yeah, lucky to have an evaluation by a local group of Māori evaluators from home in Rotorua. And so asking the kaiako who participated in the first phase, which Renee has shared, and looking at the importance of – so we have our tamariki mokopuna in the centre, and so working alongside our kaiako, our kura, our tumuaki, our hāpori Māori, our science organisations, and for what? There’s a strong theme today about meeting the needs of our tamariki mokopuna, and we had a pātai about what is education, well for us it is our mokopuna taiao.
Renee shared about the experiences, and I think even being in a rich environment like Rotorua where we’re from and we’ve been brought up in is that we continuously, there’s another theme about the importance of continuously learning. And that’s what we have experienced as well as being part of these wānanga, and feeding into how we want to move into phase two and what phase two will look like, which will start as immediately as next week.
Yeah, so our reset, redevelop, relaunch. Renee shared about what the programme looks like. So I’ll share a little bit more.
In the first phase, we had two programme facilitators, Eva Tate and Caroline Newton, who is here with us this afternoon. And so their role in working alongside the tumuaki. My role at that time was I was just really nosy and wanted to hang out with my cousins, background in science education, and as an advisor I suppose, but really just wanted to hang out.
So with Eva and Caroline facilitating, designing each of the wānanga in consultation with our tumuaki, using their networks. And I think that’s a really important point, and some of us have talked about that today, too, the importance of relationships.
And in our case, not assuming because we are from Rotorua that we can easily engage with our own. And so those are interesting dynamics. So if it’s like that for us, you know, what is it like for others who are coming from different rohe as well?
So a tension, I’m sure that many of you have experienced whether you’re within that rohe, or not. So yeah, working alongside not only those mātanga or experts in mātauranga Māori, but also from science organisations like GNS, like Scion at home in Rotorua as well. And then with the wonderful support of Te Apārangi, Kura and Kahu and Eunique and Tara.
Kaiako from those four kura, uh, about – if we’re looking at numbers, around maybe up to 30 in the first phase and aiming for that in the second phase as well. So the point of difference, a lot of us would be involved in professional development programmes before, so the importance of having in school facilitators. So, it’s a point of difference we’ll have in phase two. And we have those lead facilitators here today from Rotorua Primary School and from Te Rangihakahaka.
So we have our three kaiako, here who are leaders within their schools and I think that’s really important to have. This is about building capacity. And a part that I want to add with what Renee has shared in regards to meeting with Te Apārangi was a lot of us have been involved or know about the STLP programme. And so this involvement, my understanding is because of the lack of Māori who’ve participated in those programmes in the past. And so we have kaiako Māori from English medium and Māori medium settings, which obviously is really important for all of us.
We’ve shared about what the wānanga will look like. And so the first wānanga in the second phase will be at home again. Some of us have talked about the importance of, of beginning with what you know, but also within those contexts, there’s lots you don’t know as well. So taking our kaiako through those types of experiences so they can have those opportunities to share those experiences with their tamariki as well.
A different part from the first phase, coming into the second phase, is we’ll have two puna – so looking at mahi whakaako, so a puna ako. So looking at pedagogy in relation to science teaching and learning. Also a puna rangahau. So if we’re talking about building capacity of our kaiako, we’re having opportunities for them to be able to share their practise and sharing their practise in not only forums like this, but through their own studies, and lots of other forums, whether in person or online or in publications.
And we have other support. So yeah, building capacity there, where the team of facilitators has grown through the importance of looking at building the capacity of our kaiako.
So yeah, I’ve talked about our kai hāpai. So we’ve got Eva here and we’ve got Caroline as one of our programme facilitators, and yeah, now ngā mātanga. So mātanga different from some of us will know the kupu tohunga mātanga, and looking at their mātauranga and what they share, and then also continue to work alongside science organisations as well.
So yeah, expectations – it’s, I think kaiako just like hanging out with each other too. And giving up their time and that during their school holidays is a huge commitment and we know it. But definitely, and having these experiences and having access to the types of experiences and knowledge and the importance of celebrating that as well. So this is a gorgeous picture of kaiako from Te Rangihakahaka at our final celebration last year.
Renee Gillies
I just wanted to add that a key success to this is that leadership is on board as well. So we needed our leadership to all know what we were doing and what it was about and for them to ensure they were supporting their kaiako and their kura for this as well.
Dr Hiria McRae
Oh, yeah. That’s us. Pātai?
[Text on screen: How did you decide what you would focus on?]
Renee Gillies
We probably looked at outside our window more than anything. Honestly.
Audience member
But did you look for local support to be able to bring the knowledge to you?
Renee Gillies
Totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah.
Audience member
So really locally focused?
Renee Gillies
Very locally focused. You know, we wanted our experts to work alongside. So there was a lot of that in that planning phase that was going on. A lot of relationships, you know, a lot of relationships building. And like Hiria said, you know, yes, they might be our cousins, our aunties, our uncles, but you know, there’s a whole new element to it then, too. So yep, building relationships was huge.
[Text on screen: How come Ngāti Whakaue are so proactive around promoting science education, particularly for Māori?]
Dr Hiria McRae
So yeah, we’re lucky enough to have tūpuna who have been committed to education in te ao Pākehā, ah, for a very long time. If you know Rotorua city, Ngāti Whakaue have invested in all of our kura. So all of our kura are obviously on Ngāti Whakaue land. And so, yeah, what else? So science is only one area. And so what we talked about is this is about meeting the needs and aspirations of our kids. My knowledge – actually there, there was like a 2002 report from NZCER, ka pai NZCER around you know, looking at what was important to us as Ngāti Whakaue.
And of course – and for many Māori, not only Ngāti Whakaue is wanting to see kaimahi Māori in our yeah different different worlds and…
Renee can talk more about what that looks like at Te Rangihakahaka being a centre for science and technology. And so, yeah, based on well, not STEM OR STEAM, but STREAM if you can figure out what that ‘R’ stands for.
[Text on screen: Are there plans to extend the kaupapa into the Kāhui Ako community of learning?]
Renee Gillies
Originally no, we just said no, we want to keep it Ngāti Whakaue, but that’s changed. And so we are actually reaching out to some of our other kura Māori – example, Ngāti Pikiao are coming along on a journey with us, hopefully. Yeah, Te Kura o Whangamarino. Yeah, they’ve even inputted into some of our, our wānanga and things like that. So yeah, we’re, we’re hoping and yeah, eventually, yeah, Te Arawa whānui.
Simone Marsters
Just listening to that kōrero, I’d have been really interested to have heard that in our rohe, our Tauranga moana.
Renee Gillies
You know what one thing we were doing when, what we realised when we were designing this programme is a programme that you could take to any other iwi, and we would love that. We would love to share our experiences, but have other iwi to be able to, to take on that as well.
Acknowledgements
Renee Gillies, Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology
Dr Hiria McRae, Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka
Royal Society Te Apārangi Taiao Aronui programme
Science Learning Hub Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao and Royal Society Te Apārangi Taiao