Upholding reo Māori beyond kura kaupapa
At 18 years old, Te Tatau Strother walked into his first Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi class at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa feeling like the youngest voice in a room full of experienced reo Māori speakers.
Fresh out of high school and about to take on an advanced level 7 reo Māori programme, usually filled with older and more experienced tauira, Te Tatau could have easily been overwhelmed and out of his depth.
“I just finished high school and I was quite a bit younger than everyone, but they were all so loving toward me. They didn’t treat me as the young kid; they treated me as their pair and were always so inclusive,” says Te Tatau.
From the very first class, he felt a sense of belonging and a sense that he was exactly where he needed to be, and a huge part of that also came from meeting his kaiako, Te Ngaru Wehi.
“I found out that we both went through the same kura kaupapa, and from that point we made a connection. Te Nagru always gave me great support and treated me like I was a younger brother.”
Having already come through kura kaupapa and having grown up speaking te reo Māori at home, with his dad as his first kaiako, there has never been a time in life when Te Tatau wasn’t fluent in te reo.
He has a solid foundation in te reo Māori, but chose to keep pursuing it, deepening his knowledge, strengthening his writing, and growing alongside his fellow tauira.
And the same goes for Te Ngaru. Even as a kaiako, with years of kura kaupapa schooling behind him, he still finds himself learning alongside his tauira while teaching the programme.
“Teaching Level 7 keeps you on your toes. Sometimes my tauira ask questions I don’t immediately have the answer to, so I go back to my books and do the research. They challenge me as a kaiako, and I’m always trying to upskill myself so I can continue to give back to them,” says Te Ngaru.
Both Te Tatau and Te Ngaru hope to see more rangatahi continue to pursue their reo after kura kaupapa and wharekura, urging them not to let those hard‑earned skills fade.
“Rangatahi already carry so much potential. Why squander the gifts you get at wharekura when you can continue to grow? Programmes like Te Pīnakitanga help those gifts thrive,” says Te Ngaru.
Find out more about our reo Māori programmes.
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