Te Ahu o te Reo Māori

Kia tiakina te mātauranga ki te reo Māori | Fostering education in te reo Māori

Ko te whāinga a Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, ko te whakatipu, ko te whakapakari hoki i tētahi rangapū kaimahi mātauranga e pūkenga ana ki te whakatō i te reo rangatira nei ki ngā akoako a ngā ākonga katoa i Aotearoa.

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori aims to grow and strengthen an education workforce that can integrate te reo Māori into the learning of all ākonga in Aotearoa.

 Te Ahu o te Reo Māori logo.

He kākano ahau i ruia mai i Rangiātea
Ahakoa iti taku iti
Ka tūria e ahau ngā iwi o te ao

I am a seed, sown in Rangiātea
Although I am small
I will lead my people to the heights of greatness

Nau mai ki Te Ahu o te Reo Māori

Ko Te Ahu o te Reo Māori tēnei, ko te ara kōkiri whakamua o te reo Māori tonu ki te pae huakai – he ara whakahau, tākirikiri manawa hoki kia piki ake ai ngā pūkenga kōrero o te reo Māori, tōna mau i te arero, me tōna horahia, huri i te rāngai mātauranga. He huarahi hoki tēnei e Māori noa ai te reo Māori ki tōna anō whenua, otirā, e whai wāhi ai a Tini tāngata ki te tuakiritanga Māori me tōna ahurea.

Welcome to Te Ahu o te Reo Māori

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori means the future pathway of te reo Māori – a pathway that seeks to inspire and aspire for improved te reo Māori proficiency, acquisition and use across the education sector. It also provides opportunities for te reo Māori to be normalised, and Māori identity and culture, to be shared and embraced.

Te Whakamātautauria o Te Ahu o te Reo Māori

I whakamānu tuatahitia a Te Ahu o te Reo Māori ki ngā rohe e whā nei, ki Te Taiuru (Taranaki-Whanganui), ki Tainui (Waikato), ki Ngāi Tahu (Te Waipounamu), ki Te Tonga hoki (Atu i Parewahawaha ki Pōneke). He mea tīpako ēnei rohe i runga i te matapae, ka eke te rahi o te iwi Māori ki tōna rua tekau ōrau ki aua rohe tonu i mua i te tau, rua mano, e rua tekau mā toru. Ko te whāinga o ngā terenga whakamātautau, he wero i ngā āki a ngā mātanga (tohunga reo, mātauranga hoki), e rārangi nā i He Puna Whakaaro Mō Te Ahu o te Reo Māori me Te Kawa Matakura [PDF, 2.6 MB].

E rua ngā terenga whakamātautau nei mō Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, ina, nō te Haratua ki te Hakihea 2019 tōna mānutanga tuatahitanga, otirā, nō te Poutūterangi ki te Hōngongoi 2020 tōna horonga tuarua. Me te aha, kua puta ngā ihu, kotahi mano, e rima tekau mā wha kaikōkiri reo Māori ki roto i te rāngai, arā, he kaiako, he kaiāwhina, he kaiārahi hoki nō ngā wāhanga whānui o te rāngai mātauranga.

Mātakina ngā pitopito kōrero nō roto i Te Taiuru

Piloting Te Ahu o te Reo Māori

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori was piloted in four regions including Te Taiuru (Taranaki-Whanganui), Tainui (Waikato), Ngāi Tahu (Te Waipounamu) and Te Tonga (Bulls to Wellington). These regions were chosen because the Māori population in these areas are expected to increase by at least 20 percent by 2023. The aim of the pilot deliveries was to test the recommendations of mātanga (mātauranga and te reo experts) as outlined in He Puna Whakaaro Mō Te Ahu o te Reo Māori me Te Kawa Matakura [PDF, 2.6 MB].

The piloting of Te Ahu o te Reo Māori occurred in two waves, the first from May to December 2019 and March to July 2020. During this time, we celebrated the successful completion of 1054 new te reo Māori advocates in the sector that included teachers, support staff and educational leaders from across the education system.

Check out the video below to hear the stories from Te Taiuru.


Video transcript:  Stories of participants from Te Taiuru

(Te Ahu o te Reo Māori logo shows on the screen)

(Text on screen: “He kākano ahau i ruia mai i Rangiātea. Ahakoa iti taku iti, Ka tūria e ahau ngā iwi o te ao"

(Text on screen: Oeo Mara - Otakeho, Taranaki)

(Text on screen: May 2019)

(Music plays in the background for the whole video)

Leena Thomas, Head Teacher – Westown Kindergarten

"It‘s about lighting the fire in the bellies of everybody around us. Our kaiako (teachers), our whānau (families) and our tamariki (children)."

"Ko te ngako o te kaupapa nei, he whakaoho i te hiahia ki te reo i roto i ō tātou hoa katoa. Ō tātou kaiako, ō tātou whānau me ā tātou tamariki."

Text on screen: Te Ahu o te Reo Māori - Fostering education in te Reo Māori)

Robbie Bird, Teacher – St Joseph’s School

"The goal for me would be to increase my own confidence and knowledge, so that I’m able to make an impact on those students and their whanau through the relationships that I can develop and the fun that also exists within the language. Because the practise of teachers is changing and this is a waka that allows us to move forward."

"Ko te whāinga nui mōku he whakapiki i tōku kaha me taku mōhio ki te reo, kia pai ai taku whakapiki i ngā tamariki me ō rātou whānau mā taku whakawhanaunga atu ki a rātou, me te ngahau nui kei roto i te reo. Ina hoki, kua huri ngā tikanga whakaako a ngā kaiako. He waka tēnei hei kawe whakamua i a tātou.”

(shots of people talking and learning together with cuisinaire rods)

Karla Gibson, Teacher – Inglewood High School

"Being a bit more confident with my own pronunciation. I had some kupu (words) but not as much, not confident in my own pronunciation so I’ve got that a bit today, and being able to string a few more sentences together." 

"Kia piki ake taku māia ki te whakahuahua i te reo. He kupu āku, engari kāore i tino maha, kāore au i tino maia ki te whakahuahua, i tēnei rā kua pai ake, kua āhei au ki te tuitui rerenga kōrero māku.

(shots of people talking and learning together)

Robbie Bird, Teacher – St Joseph’s School

"Extremely, extremely challenging. But I am sure it’s a journey, something that I have to persevere and pursue. I’m way out of my comfort zone, but then that’s what we ask of our students too, so it’s a good internal challenge for me to reflect not just on what I'm learning, but also putting myself as the ako(nga) and being challenged in many, many ways." 

"He wero nui, he wero tino nui. Engari e mōhio ana au he hīkoi roa tēnei, me whakamanawanui, me whai haere tonu i te ara ki te mutunga. Kei waho au i te ao e mōhio ana au, engari e pērā ana ā mātou inoi ki ā mātou ākonga, nā reira, hei whakatara tēnei mō taku ngākau i roto i ahau, me huritao mō taku akoranga, āe, engari me pohewa anō au mō te āhua o te ākonga, e whakatarangia ana i ngā wā katoa."

(shots of people talking and learning together)

Karla Gibson, Teacher – Inglewood High School

"It’s been amazing for me mainly as a mother to see how many early childhood teachers are here, and I really do think as an educator, that that is, that if they can get started there, it makes primary school and secondary school that much easier to add to."

"He whakamīharo ki ahau, whaea nei, kia kite au tokohia rawa ngā kaiako kura kōhungahunga i konei, ā, nā te mea he kaiako au, e mōhio ana au ki te tīmata rātou i reira, ka ngāwari kē atu te tāpiri i te reo i te kura tuatahi, i te kura tuarua hoki.

Leena Thomas, Head Teacher – Westown Kindergarten

(shots of people talking and learning and singing together)

"You know, this is our language as a country, so for us, for me, I want to reflect that we have a dual heritage and that we need to be able to stand proud with both of those languages, so our tamariki, you know, they grow up with both of those languages.

"E mōhio ana tātou, he reo tēnei nō te motu katoa, nō tātou, nō reira e hiahia ana au ki te whakaahua i ō tātou tāonga kākano rua, kia tū pakari te tangata i roto i ngā reo e rua, kia tupu ngātahi ai ā tātou tamariki me ēnei reo e rua.”

(aerial view of a marae zooms out, logos show on screen: Ministry of Education, Te Ahu o te Reo Māori and He Ata Rawea.)

Te Ahu Whakamua

Ka tuwhera kau a Te Ahu o te Reo Māori ki ngā rohe katoa i te tau 2021. Kua tīmata noa atu ngā whakaritenga kia horahia te kaupapa ki runga i te motu, ā, hei ngā marama tata nei pānuitia ai ngā pitopito kōrero hou.

Next Steps

Te Ahu o te Reo Māori will be available across all regions in 2021. Planning for the national rollout is well underway and we will be sharing new delivery information over the next few months.

He pātai anō āu?

He pātai rānei āu, tonoa mai tō īmēra ki tereo.maorigroup@education.govt.nz

Any further questions?

If you have any further queries, email us at tereo.maorigroup@education.govt.nz

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