Te Kura Huanui report launched

On 8 July, Minister Kelvin Davis, supported by Minister Jan Tinetti, launched the report ‘Te Kura Huanui: Ko ngā kura o ngā ara angitū | The treasures of successful pathways’ at Parliament.

"Learning is best located in authenticity, plan for it! Students learn best when they experience the learning rather than learning about an experience. It is during authentic learning experiences that latent talent is exposed to be nurtured immediately or at a later point in time.”

– Bernard Ferguson (Whānau)

What is Te Kura Huanui: Ko ngā kura o ngā ara angitū | The treasures of successful pathways?

Te Kura Huanui is an evidence-based report and video series that analyses te reo Māori education pathways. It highlights characteristics of educational success and provides insight into the role of whānau, hapū and iwi throughout the learning journey, while also giving valuable examples for empowering Māori learners to succeed, that may be applied to other learning environments.

Underpinned by a strong kaupapa Māori approach (by Māori, for Māori, with Māori, in te reo Māori), Te Kura Huanui identifies five key conditions for Māori learners enjoying and achieving success as Māori:

  • Mana Māori Motuhake: Being Māori – Mana Atua| Mana Whenua| Mana Reo
  • Tikanga Māori
  • Whanaungatanga: Relationships and connectedness
  • Ako: Teaching and Learning
  • Kanohi Whakakite: Leaders as Visionaries

It’s a project that offers a comprehensive overview of Māori education pathways and philosophies and showcases best practice for empowering ākonga Māori to truly thrive in our ever-changing world.

Te Kura Huanui: The treasures of successful pathways – Education Review Office(external link)

How did Te Kura Huanui come about?

In 2018, we entered an agreement with the Education Review Office (ERO) to undertake research to capture dimensions of success as they occur within te reo Māori education settings.

First, Te Pou Mataaho (ERO’s research and evaluation Māori group) identified high performing kōhanga reo, puna reo, kura, wharekura and schools from an analysis of evaluation reports. ERO then used indigenous evaluation and research frameworks to gather insights about the journeys of learners in te reo Māori education pathways.

Each kura selected raukura/graduates to case study, focussing on their particular learning journey from kōhanga/puna reo, kura and wharekura that would provide insight into the conditions that foster success for Māori ākonga along te reo Māori education pathways. Profiles were produced about each raukura/graduate that captured individual narratives.

ERO intentionally sought to unite the differing Māori-medium paradigms in this project by gifting a new name: Te Kura Huanui – the treasures of successful pathways, valuable for our system, precious for our whānau.

“We started to learn te reo Māori at home and we had no idea that our parents weren’t very confident speakers of the language at that time, because that was the language that they gave to us. We weren’t really aware of the war that they had fought the path that they had followed in order to become Māori speakers. Our world – well, what we knew – was te ao Māori.” 

– Raukura

Ngā mihi | Acknowledgements

This project was the result of a positive partnership between the Education Review Office (ERO), our own Te Uepū Reo Māori (Māori Language Group), Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori and Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa.

Further information

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