Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga: New partnership

Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga: New partnership delivers tohu focused on tikanga Māori

A new programme focusing on tikanga Māori is being launched to meet a growing demand for building cultural capability.

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is partnering with TupuOra Education and Development to deliver Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga. The programme is launching as a free Level 3 course, delivered online.

Tikanga Māori is a critical component in all Awanuiārangi programmes but Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga is the first to focus exclusively on cultural knowledge and skills.

Head of Undergraduate Studies, Sheree Spooner, says the collaboration with TupuOra brings specialist skillsets, strengths, networks and experience to the delivery of the new tohu.  

“The whanaungatanga with TupuOra is a targeted response to the increased need to build cultural capability in a wide range of settings. Awanuiārangi is pleased to be partnering with specialists of this calibre to provide our communities with the knowledge and skills they are asking for.”

Founded by managing directors Kingi Kiriona and Te Waipounamu Teinakore in 2016, TupuOra works among kura, kaiako and kāhui ako, as well as in the private and public sector, to develop and deliver a tailored range of kaupapa including bespoke te reo and tikanga Māori programmes.

Jarred Boon, Pou Toko Akoranga – Manager, Quality and Programme Development for TupuOra – says their work has included tikanga and kawa wānanga and targeted programmes to build critical consciousness and cultural awareness, to develop confidence to walk within Te Ao Māori, and to understand and implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“There has been an upsurge in demand around the motu to increase cultural understanding,” Jarred says.

“It reflects a mindshift in Aotearoa. There has been a considerable push to implement te reo and tikanga Māori within the education system and that has had a flow-on effect in all walks of life.

“Today’s mindset is that learning about te reo and tikanga Māori is an exciting opportunity, and because of that there’s a lot of demand to use te reo and tikanga in classes, work spaces and family settings.

“That is where the drive is coming from, and there has been such an increase in demand over the past three or four years that we need to pool our resources, skills and strengths to meet the need.

“With this new tohu, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and TupuOra are doing just that: bringing together our collective strengths, focusing on our networks and the people we are here to serve, and trying to create a kaupapa that really broadens each institution’s horizons.”

Key focus areas for the initial tohu include pepeha, narratives, Māori society and marae kawa.

Co-developing and co-managing the delivery of Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga is TupuOra’s first formal collaboration with a tertiary institute. It could potentially lead to further pathways of progression in tikanga Māori capability to service the still-growing demand, Jarred says.

“It is about opening those doorways, breaking down those barriers and providing people with the understanding and experience to feel comfortable in te Ao Māori. It is not just our Māori communities who are calling out for this new knowledge – there is massive demand from all sectors of our communities: government departments, councils, health organisations, corporate – and we are in a good position to respond to this national thrust.”

Te Pōkaitahi Tikanga (kaupae tuatoru) will be delivered free online in 2022 and from next year will be offered as a mixed mode programme.