Launch of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
(Māori medium curriculum)
Te Kura Māori o Porirua
It’s 25 years now since the first Kohanga Reo, Pukeatua opened in Wainuiomata. Some of younger ones might not know what
25 years feels like – but let me tell you, its a very long time. Back in those days everyone was talking about the New
Zealand team at the soccer world cup – the rugby world cup didn’t even exist!
Kohanga Reo were set up to preserve te reo; because we were worried that the language might not survive. Who would say
such a thing today?!
A survey released on the health of the reo by Te Puni Kōkiri during Māori Language Week revealed a total of 52 per cent
of Māori surveyed said they could speak te reo, to some degree.
It recorded a 9% increase in the number of Māori who can speak more than a few words or phrases in te reo Māori since
the last survey in 2001.
And it found significant increases in the number of younger Māori who could speak te reo and the number of speakers
with high proficiency levels has more than doubled among the 15-35 age group
Increasing competency among the younger age group is critically importance to us in achieving the intergenerational
language transmission.
We have an established and highly respected Māori Television service which supports language in the homes on a daily
basis. We are continuing to support the demand for Māori medium education which is an essential part of the education
landscape. I’m pleased to say that over the past eight years the Labour-led government has thrown its weight behind that
kaupapa on a number of fronts.
Māori medium education is growing. There are 350 Māori medium primary and secondary schools teaching around 17,500
students. They are important to you and me, as Māori, but also to our communities and, I believe, to New Zealand society
generally.
In 2001 Professor Mason Durie wrote about what the goals of the education system should be for Māori. He proposed three
goals:
to be able to live as Māori;
to be healthy, wealthy and successful;
and to actively participate as citizens of the world without sacrificing their Māori identity.
Both Māori communities and the government share these goals.
Today we will launch a document that we believe will help realise Māori potential, support Māori learners, and also
support our shared goals for Māori education.
The vision for Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is to develop successful learners – kia tū tangata te ākonga [enabling students
to achieve their full potential] which is also the goal of ‘Ka Hikitia’ the draft Māori education strategy that we
launched in August.
There is great potential within Māori youth. We want to realise that so we can prepare young people for the 21st
century.
The government has worked with the Māori medium education sector on how the curriculum could help achieve those goals.
Together we share an understanding of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and how it can benefit all Māori medium students. I want
to acknowledge and thank everyone who worked on the document we are launching today.
Remember that there are two documents which will, together, form our national curriculum. The first is the New Zealand
Curriculum for English medium schools. The second is Te Marautanga o Aotearoa – the draft curriculum for Māori medium
schools that we are launching today.
The curriculum acknowledges Māori values, knowledge, heritage and culture and how important they are to us. It realises
that specific Māori ways of learning are essential to Māori Medium education. It acknowledges that te reo Māori is the
heart and soul of this journey.
This is not just a translation of the English medium curriculum. It sets the direction for learning in a Māori context;
about the things that are important to us.
For example, both curricula talk about working co-operatively with peers and in groups; and both talk about raising
personal awareness and self-worth. But the Māori medium curriculum talks about the importance of being generous and
caring for visitors, and of learning about whakapapa – things that are specifically important to Māori, and are unique
to this curriculum.
At Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Koutu in Rotorua they teach not only te reo and English, but also Spanish as a third language.
That’s exciting in itself – but it’s especially important because they learn Spanish through the medium of te reo Māori
– something that’s unique among kura. Te Reo is a passport to the world – quite literally, through the school visits to
Mexico.
This is about exposing students to other cultures and to the world which makes them more secure in their Māori identity,
and their own place in the world.
Māori medium schools – the Kura at Te Koutu and here in Porirua – are essential to achieving that success. Working
together – schools with whānau, hapū and iwi – we can achieve that success.
We invite you to participate in the consultation; we want to know what you think of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. To the
educators I strongly urge you to lead the discussion in your local communities. This is an opportunity to put the needs
and values of Māori learners at the heart of Māori medium education. We must seize the opportunity to make this an
enduring curriculum for our schools and our young people going forward.
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Te Whakamānutanga o te Marautanga o Aotearoa
Te Kura Māori o Porirua
Kua 25 tau ināianei mai i te tīmatanga o te Kōhanga Reo tuatahi, a Pukeatua, i whakatuwheratia ki Wainuiomata. Kahore
pea ētahi o ngā tamariki i te mōhio pēwhea nei te 25 tau, - ēngari māku e kī atu ki a koutou, he tino roa tēnei wā. I
aua rā, i te kōrero te katoa mō te ipu hōkarikari o te ao – kahore hoki he ipu hutupaora o te ao i taua wā.
I whakatūria te Kōhanga Reo hei pupuri i Te Reo; i te mea i te pouri mātou kei kore e toitū te reo. Ko wai ka kōrero
pērā i ēnei rā?
I pānuitia e tētahi rangahau, mō te oranga o te reo Māori, nā Te Puni Kōkiri i tuku i te Wiki O te Reo Māori, e 52 ōrau
o ngā Māori i rangahautia, e taea ana ki te kōrero Māori, i tētahi wāhanga rānei.
I tuhia e 9% te pikinga o te maha o te Māori e taea ana ki te kōrero i ētahi kupu, me ētahi kīanga kupu rānei, i roto i
te reo Māori, mai i te rangahautanga i te tau 2001,
I kitea anō te pikinga nui tonu o te maha o ngā Māori taiohi e taea ana ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, me te maha o ngā
kaikōrero kei ngā taumata kōrero teitei, kua piki whakarua i waenga i te reanga pakeketanga 15 – 35 tau.
Ko ngā whāinga tohungatanga nei te mea whakahirahira ki a mātou hei whakatutuki i te whakawhitinga i te reo i waenga i
ngā reanga.
Kei te haere pai ngā mahinga a te ratonga Pouaka Māori, e tautoko ana i te reo ki roto i ngā kāinga ia rā ia rā. Me
mātou e tautoko tonu ana i ngā tono mō ngā akoranga kaupapa Māori, koia nei tētahi wāhanga pūtake tonu o te ao akoranga.
Me taku harikoa ki te whakamōhio atu kua waru tau tēnei kāwanatanga Reipa-ārahi e whakapau kaha ana ki muri i aua
kaupapa i roto i ngā wāhanga maha tonu.
Kei te tipu tonu ngā akoranga kaupapa Māori. E 350 ngā kura kaupapa Māori tuatahi, tuarua, e ako ana i ngā tauira e
17,500. He mea whakahirahira rātou ki a koutou, ki ahau hoki, hei Māori, ki ngā hapori anō, me taku whakaaro pono, ki te
hapori o Aotearoa whānui.
I te tau 2001, i tuhia e Ahorangi Mason Durie, āna whakaaro mō ngā whāinga pūnaha akoranga mō te Māori. E toru ngā
whāinga i whakaarotia:
Kia āhei te Māori ki te noho ora hei Māori;
Ki te noho hauora, whai rawa, me te noho angitu;
Ki te whaiwāhi kaha hei kainoho o te ao, engari kia kaua e whakaitia tō rātou tuakiri Maori.
Me te whakaae a ngā hapori Māori, me te kāwanatanga ki ēnei whāinga.
I te rangi nei te whakamānutanga o tēnei tuhinga e pono nei mātou ka āwhina i te whakatinanatanga o ngā pukenga Māori,
ka tautoko i ngā akonga Māori, ka tautoko i a mātou whāinga kua whakaaetia nei mō te akoranga Māori.
Ko te matakite mō Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, ko te whanaketanga i ngā akonga angitu – kia tū tangata te akonga ( te
tautoko i ngā tauira ki te whakatinana i a rātou pūmanawa katoa) ā, koia nei anō te whāinga o ‘Ka Hikitia’ te rautaki
hukihuki mātauranga Māori i whakamānutia i te marama o Here-turi-kōkā. He nui rawa atu te pūmanawa e nohopuku ana i roto
i ngā taiohi Māori. Me tā mātou hiahia ki te whakatinana i tēnei kia noho reri ai te hunga taiohi mō te rau tau 21.
Kei te mahi tahi te kāwanatanga me te rāngai akoranga kaupapa Māori kia mōhio me pēwhea te marautanga e āwhina ki te
whakatinana i ngā whāinga nei. Kei te mārama ngātahi māua ki Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, me ngā mahi ka āwhina i ngā
tauira kaupapa Māori katoa. Me aku mihi nui rawa atu ki a rātou katoa i whaiwāhi ki te tuhinga o tēnei pukapuka e tukuna
ana i te rangi nei.
Me maumahara tātou, e rua kē ngā pukapuka nei, ā, ko rāua tahi ka hanga i te marautanga ā-motu. Ko te pukapuka tuatahi,
te Marautanga o Aotearoa mō ngā kura kaupapa pākehā. Ko te pukapuka tuarua ko Te Marautanga o Aotearoa – te marautanga
hukihuki mō ngā kura kaupapa Māori, e whakamānutia ana i te rangi nei.
E tautoko ana te marautanga i ngā wāriu, ngā mātauranga, ngā taonga tuku iho, ngā tikanga, me te tūranga whakahirahira o
ēnei take ki a tātou. Me te mōhio ki te tūranga pūtake o te ako i raro i ngā āhuatanga Māori motuhake, hei wāhanga nui
tonu o te akoranga Kaupapa Māori. Me te tautoko, ko te reo Māori kei te manawa me te wairua o tēnei hīkoi.
Ehara tēnei i te whakamāoritanga noaiho o te marautanga kaupapa Ingarihi. Ko tēnei e whakatakoto ana i te huarahi mō ngā
akoranga ki roto i te horopaki Māori; mō ngā take e whakapā whakahirahira ana ki a tātou.
Hei tauira, kei te kōrero ngātahi ngā marautanga mō te mahinga tahi ki ngā hunga ōrite me ngā rōpū; me te kōrero anō mō
te hiki i te matatau me te mana motuhake o te tangata. Engari te marautanga kaupapa Māori kei te kōrero mō te atawhai,
me te manaaki i ngā manuhiri, me te ako i ngā whakapapa – ngā take e whakapā whakahirahira ana ki te Māori, e noho
ahurei ana ki tēnei o ngā marautanga.
Kei Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Koutu, e ako ana rātou, kahore anake kō te Reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi, ēngari anō te reo
Pāniora hei reo tuatoru. He mea whakaihiihi tērā - ēngari he mea whakahirahira i te mea kei te ako rātou i te reo
Pāniora mā roto i ngā kawenga o te reo Māori – tēnei tikanga ahurei i waenga i ngā kura. He taonga uruwhenua te reo
Māori ki te ao – i runga i ngā kupu, mā roto i ngā haerenga kura ki te whenua o Mēhiko.
Koia nei ngā whakahaere ki te whakatuwhera i ngā tauira ki ētahi ake tikanga, me te ao whānui ka hanga whakapūmau i a
rātou tuakiri Māori, me a rātou tūranga ki roto i te ao.
He mea pūtake ngā kura kaupapa Māori - te kura kei Te Koutu, me te kura kei Porirua nei – ki te whakatutuki i aua mahi
angitu. Mā te mahi ngātahi – ngā kura me ngā whānau, ngā hapū, me ngā iwi – ka tutuki aua whāinga angitu.
Tēnei tā mātou tono ki a koutou kia whaiwāhi ki ngā whiriwhiringa; e hiahia ana mātou ki te mōhio i o koutou whakaaro mō
Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Me taku whakahau kaha ki ngā kaiwhakaako ki te ārahi i ngā hui whiriwhiri ki roto i a koutou
hapori kāinga. He huarahi wātea tēnei ki te whakatakoto i ngā hiahia me ngā wāriu a ngā tauira Māori ki te pūtake manawa
o ngā kaupapa mātauranga Māori. Me hopu e tātou katoa tēnei huarahi wātea ki te hanga kia pūmau tonu tēnei marautanga mō
a tātou kura, me a tātou tāngata taiohi e ahu whakamua ana.
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