Māori Principles Into our Teaching Practice

Article written by Benjamin Lau

As a kaiako tauiwi, (non-Māori teacher), I am manuhiri (a visitor) to Te ao Māori. At our recent MENZA conference, I presented on the topic ‘How to Incorporate Māori Principles into Your Teaching Practice’.

Some of the principles I discussed were having a deeper understanding of Whakapapa, Whanaungatanga and Manaakitanga. We all apply these principles to our teaching practice. However, having that deeper understanding and feeling confident in Te ao Māori is only made possible through relationships, through whakawhanaungatanga.