November 09, 2017
Tertiary sector gets word to up support for reo users
The New Zealand Council for Education Research and tertiary sector support organisation Ako Aotearoa have put together tools to help tertiary education organisations support the language aspirations of te reo Maori learners.
The initiative is in response to a study showing while the language is central to learners’ identity, support at tertiary level is variable.
There is no common set of strategies, policies, and practices for supporting reo Maori learners and speakers, especially as the transitions through different stages of education are crucial yet vulnerable times for language learners.
Sheridan McKinley, the council’s general manager Maori, says for many learners te reo Maori is more than an academic subject.
It is connected to their sense of who they are and connects them to whanau, hapu, and iwi.
The Kei Tua o te Kura report is the fourth from the Ka Whanau Mai te Reo research project on education transitions.
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