August 27, 2014
Reo research opens new thinking
The New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies has published its first ever te reo Maori academic article.
Dr Georgina Stewart, a lecturer at the Auckland University’s Te Puna Wananga School in the Faculty of Education, wrote ‘Te take kahore ahau e tuhi rangahau ki te reo Maori’ or 'Why I don’t write research in Maori' as a philosophical reflection on the pros and cons of writing research in Maori.
Dr Stewart says she was prompted to write the article after a hui celebrating the launch of the journal's Special Issue on Kaupapa Maori in 2012, where journal board member Carol Mutch spoke about the need to support te reo Maori by publishing work.
She says while she will continue to write most of her research in English so it is part of a global conversation, writing in Maori took her thoughts in new and unexpected directions.
Dr Stewart, who has been teaching in te reo for more than 20 years, says it's appropriate that the researcher should be able to use the Maori language, but it’s not appropriate to think that all Maori research must be written in Maori..
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