Following on from the success of He Waka Hiringa – the Master of Applied Indigenous knowledge degree in Hamilton, the only master’s programme taught by the wānanga has spread its wings to Tāmaki Makaurau.

A pōwhiri for the first intake of 23 Masters tauira will take place tomorrow at the Māngere campus.

PhD candidate Areta Kahu from Ngāti Tuwharetoa will lead the masters programme in Mangere and she’s thrilled about her new role. 

An experienced primary school teacher, Areta (Ngāti Tuwharetoa) was looking for a new educational challenge having just completed her Masters in History from Waikato, focused on Māori tamariki in the 1920s. 

“There’s a buzz of excitement going on and you can really feel the uara coming through.”

He Waka Hiringa is a masters’ programme that challenges indigenous practitioners in their respective fields to affirm knowledge that can be returned back to the community in what former lead kaiako Manulani Meyer called effulgent coherence or Maramatanga. 

As well as being the first masters’ course for the wānanga, it is the first international indigenous masters’ programme in the world. 

Areta is no stranger to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. She first came to the wānanga through the Rotorua campus in 2003 as kaiako for the organisation’s first degree programme; Te Korowai Akonga Bachelor of Teaching (Primary), created 16 years ago. 

In 2005 Areta moved to teach the TWoA degree in Hamilton and at this time she also co-authored Narratives of beginning Māori teachers – identifying forces that shape the first year of teaching. 

“We took the issues nationwide to conferences and I loved it. That’s where I got hooked on rangahau. I was doing something for our people that really mattered, you know, to put right the wrongs.”

She then became kaiako for the Certificate in Indigenous Research, finding it complemented the PhD studies that she had just taken up through Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.