WR2804 Diploma in Te Reo Maori
Te Pōkairua Reo Māori
Level 5, 120 Credits

Tangiwai Doctor
Diploma in Te Reo Maori

Why did you decide to work at Waiariki:
My passion to teach Maori language and raranga (flax weaving) to adult students at Waiariki was another waka where I am able to share my experiences and challenges utilising these skills.

What do you like about working at Waiariki:
I enjoy the opportunities to meet and work with different people from different types of work and nationalities. Waiariki is a place to learn new ideas and to put them into practice like creating different courses with a Maori world view and being able to encourage non-Maori students to participate in these courses, e.g. Whaikorero, Korowai, Raranga and many others.

What do you like about the qualification you teach specifically:
I love the development of the student from someone who had no idea where he or she was from and they hold their heads low. By the end of the course they are able to stand proud and believe that they are important and come from an awesome family and have a heritage to be proud of no matter where it is, especially from a Maori and bicultural view. This, I believe, is what language and culture will do for you.

Anything else you’d like to share:
In the last year I realise that my creative juices have been working really well. I am proud to announce that I have completed a traditional Korowai (Maori cloak). This has taken me exactly one year and has been an awesome experience. On the completion I felt the presence of my tupuna (ancestors) including my mother and daughter and felt the wairua of the aroha and manaaki from them all.
I also look forward to the new ventures that will be happening within our school and wish everybody within our school the very best for the future.