July 08, 2022
Tairawhiti spin put on teacher reo programme
Eastern Institute of Technology is embracing a professional development course for teachers as a way to give kaiako some of the local knowledge they need to pass onto their pupils.
Its Taitawhiti Campus has taken on the delivery of Te Ahu o te Reo Māori to 500 teachers in the region as part of a national roll-oiut of the programme, which aims to impove the capacity and confidence of teachers to use te reo Maori in the classroom.
Campus director Tracey Tangihaere says EIT is working with mana whenua so it can pass on reo, pūrākau and tikanga which are specific to iwi in Tūranga.
“Te Ahu o te Reo is really to help our mainstream system, our teachers’ capacity to be familiar with reo but also to be familiar with the local tikanga ,the local mana whenua, the local historical narrative and the contemporary issues affecting our whanau, hapu and iwi,” she says.
More than 6000 teachers around the country have so far been through Te Ahu o te Reo Māori.