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He kōrerorero, he whakaaro
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March

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March

Understanding HīAko

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Rahera Ormsby

From a young age, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga was a nanakia visionary, inquisitive and he accomplished a number of great feats helping others to live better lives. HīAko aims to enable Māori learners to discover their potential, ‘te pitomata’ and promote kaupapa Māori ways of engaging with self, others, and knowledge.

The HīAko challenge itself is fast paced, high energy and fun and uses kaupapa Māori approaches to find solutions to real life, localised problems that matter to ākonga and their whānau as speakers of te reo Māori. HīAko provides ākonga with the opportunity like Māui, to think, explore and find solutions to real life issues in order to enrich the lives of others. Māui was far from perfect and he was a great disruptor, which is what is needed also in this space.

HīAko

HīAko is founded within pūrākau, demonstrating a unique approach to learning based on four Māori medium learning approaches:

  • Kia hīanga te ako – discover as you play, play to learn
  • Kia tamaiti te tū, kia Māori te tū – being a child whilst standing in your Māoriness
  • Mā te tamaiti tōna ao e hanga – the child will create his or her own world
  • Ko te tamaiti ko tōna whānau, ko te whānau ko tōna tamaiti – each child brings with them whānau, whakapapa, stories and knowledge that are unique.

What is HīAko?

  • HīAko is a learning programme which believes that whilst playing, huge learning is taking place.
  • HīAko encompasses learning reciprocity, learning enjoyment, learning discovery, learning creativity, and learning collaboration.
  • HīAko endeavours to awaken the potential within, so that new ideas and innovations may occur.
  • HīAko is Māori-centric, fun, and fast paced.
  • HīAko includes time for ākonga to collaborate together in teams to inquire, uncover problems that matter to them, which they would like to try and solve.
  • HīAko encourages teams to research and query solutions to their problems and link with whānau, kura, hapū and the wider hāpori to assist ākonga with their solutions.
  • HīAko is designed so ākonga get to play, tutu, learn, create and harness transformational change within a total immersion te reo Māori environment.
HīAko – powered by CORE Education – Tātai Aho Rau is a kaupapa Māori driven event for tau 6 – 8 ākonga from Māori medium and reo rua kura. Three HīAko events will be held during 2021. More information about the upcoming HīAko events and how to enrol your ākonga coming soon. Visit the website for more!

 

We would like to acknowledge Whare and Hohepa Isaac-Sharland, past facilitators of CORE who designed and delivered the HīAko programme and this content.

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Innovation is in our DNA: engaging Māori students in design thinking

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Te Mako Orzecki

Te Mako Orzecki reflects on this podcast from Janelle Riki-Waaka

CORE Education · Innovation Is In Our DNA – Engaging Māori Students In Design Thinking

 

In this podcast, Janelle Riki-Waaka explains how employing the good old number 8 wire mentality is at the heart of innovation using design thinking frameworks. She draws on the experiences of Māori and Pasifika navigators who traversed the Pacific and settled throughout Te Moananui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Our ancestors used not only technologies of the time to survive but also thrive. Janelle argues that these technologies and innovations still exist within our tamariki and mokopuna of today.

Janelle draws on that old knowledge and technology to make comparison with today’s Hangarau Matihiko and Digital Technologies curriculum content. As she puts it, “The end goal is for Māori learners to not only become consumers of technology, but also creators of technology.” There is a desire for Māori ākonga to be innovative in seeking solutions to any given problems by developing a framework that sits within their cultural paradigm and more.

Image by CORE Education. All rights reserved.
Image by CORE Education. All rights reserved.

A kaiako’s job as a facilitator of learning is to provide Māori ākonga with the opportunities to pursue these types of vocations and to set themselves up in their future career pathways.
Diversification is key in making this a success. This means more wāhine, more Māori, and more people of Pacific descent working in these spaces. It is imperative that various cultural lenses can provide unique perspectives. One way of developing locally-grounded, future-focused problem solvers is through design thinking.

Design thinking is a process that requires people to find problems or challenges that affect people and places and come up with solutions. These often derive from the needs of people and/or environment. It enables a collaborative way of working.

In considering what design thinking looks like from a Te Ao Māori perspective in our CORE Education mahi, we drew on Cliff Whiting and the design process he used in his art making. Similar to Cliff we used the Māori creation story as a narrative to understand and guide our initial design thinking process. This Māori view on design thinking was further developed for Kia Takatū a-Matihiko as Te Tukunga Hoahoa Whakaaro. As a snapshot, our iterative process consisted of design, testing, feedback, reframing ideas, and reflection. Our wish is to share this process with all kaiako throughout Aotearoa who want to use it with their tamariki, knowing that it has come from an authentic, bicultural perspective that is based and grounded in Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori.

In recent years there has been a notable rise in the number of Māori role models in tech and innovation industries who are upheld as innovative thinkers and leaders. People like Lee Timutimu (Ko Māui Hangarau), Kendall Flutey (Ngāi Tahu) who developed an online banker tool for primary and intermediate learners to learn money skills. Nikora Ngaropo for his outstanding work with animations and Hori Te Ariki Mataki (Ariki Creative) and the boys from Māui Studio who are doing the mahi in Ōtautahi. These innovators are leading the charge for our budding future Māori digital creators and leaders.

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0800 267 301