External Evaluation and Review Report 2023

An exemplary education: Whakatāne educator praised for strengthening students’ connection to their Māori identity

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is a mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) tertiary provider “producing nation builders,” according to a new education report.

The latest New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s External Evaluation & Review report heaps praise on the organisation from its programmes through to its governance.

Chief Executive Professor Wiremu Doherty (Tuhoe, Ngāti Awa) welcomes the report and its affirmation of the organisation’s value.

“We are delighted with the report and its praise for the kaupapa we are building for our tauira, our country’s future leaders, and the communities we serve” says Professor Doherty.

The report findings are derived using a standard process including performance data and interviews with tauira (students) and kaimahi (staff).

In their student experience, tauira “attested to the value of the learning for them, including a stronger connection to their identity as Māori.”

Executive Director Academic Professor Vaughan Bidois (Ngaitai, Ngāti Ranginui) says the organisation is proud to be contributing so meaningfully to the lives of our tauira, their whānau and communities and to New Zealand.

The organisation’s “kaupapa (programmes) are clearly exemplary and imbue performance across the organisation, according to the report.

Professor Bidois says the organisation’s programmes are designed to develop tauira who will continue the revival of mātauranga Māori both in its own right and within the contexts of the areas they study in.

“We strive to develop programmes and educational experiences that not only embraces our dual heritage but is a place where mātauranga Māori thrives alongside other knowledge systems.”

“Effective leadership and governance is [sic] evident through… its duty of care to fulfilling the aspirations of those who lay the foundation of the kaupapa of Awanuiārangi,” reported the qualifications authority.

The report concludes Awanuiārangi is providing tauira with an engaging and supportive learning environment and upholding an enduring commitment to its mission.

Pānui i roto i te reo Māori