Panguru principal Mina Pomare-Peita receives major international award

Te Kura Taumata O Panguru principal Mina Pomare-Peita, wearing scarf, has received the prestigious NEiTA Founders’ Principals Award for Leadership.

As a young girl Mina Pomare-Peita saw big inequities in society, and particularly the education system, and was determined to do something about it.

More than three decades later Pomare-Peita’s efforts in educating young minds at Te Kura Taumata O Panguru has seen her receive the prestigious NEiTA Founders’ Principals Award for Leadership.

The award was presented in Melbourne, Australia on Friday and Pomare-Peita, in typical fashion, said it was recognition for the efforts of the entire community to get young people learning about, caring for, loving, protecting and enhancing their environment. As well as the significant award, she won a $10,000 professional development grant. Three other New Zealand teachers were honoured at the awards.

Pomare-Peita accepted the invitation from Te Rarawa kaumātua to become tumuaki of Te Kura Taumata O Panguru 27 years ago and the school - 100 per cent Māori - has thrived under her vision of taiao place-based education, taught in te reo Māori medium.

Her nominator Nadine Scully said using mātaurangatanga together with science has taught students to be proud kaitiaki of their whenua.

“Mina is Panguru-born and bred and grew up living off the land with the mātauranga, kupu, and pūrākau of Te Rarawa passed down to her. Her desire to ensure tamariki have that same mātauranga - taught through waiata, games, incantations, instructions, karakia and workshops - is the catalyst for our school’s strong ties to our taiao, along with relationships,” Scully said.

Pomare-Peita said she is unapologetically passionate about the intelligence of her people and realised from a young age that the education system was not fair for all.

Mina Pomare-Peita saw inequities in the education system from a young age and was determined to do something about it - she’s just been awarded the NEiTA Founders’ Principals Award for Leadership.

‘’I was quite young, about 10-14, when I saw there was so much inequity and injustice in the school system. It was just so unfair so I made a promise to myself that I would do something about it and make changes,’’ she said.

So she became a teacher and has used her role at Te Kura Taumata O Panguru to expand the minds and understanding of her young charges.

‘’First of all it’s about serving your people, my people. The system was just so unfair and blatant that I had to do something. I grew up in a community where you never, ever, discriminated against somebody because of their ability and where everybody was brought up the same to look after each other and the environment.

‘’But many of your youngsters have lost some of that as we were moved to towns and cities for work and you have to get them to reconnect and fall in love with their environment and learn why it is so important in every aspect of their lives.’’

She said as a secondary school teacher, teaching lives are dominated by assessment and unfortunately the academic ability of a student is determined by three priorities, reading, writing and maths.

‘’There is more to living than these three achievement results. We put te reo Māori, taiao and whanaungatanga at the forefront of all learning,” Pomare-Peita said.

Getting children out of the classroom and into the forest and bush in the digital age was the key to getting them to understand their environment.

‘’You have to get them to love their environment and the world they live in. Once you get that they will want to protect it and enhance it and look after it.

‘’We’re bringing the environment into the classroom and we had to learn how to make it fit with the national curriculum. It’s making learning more meaningful for them.

‘’Students have a deep understanding of their environment, and what is needed to protect and enhance it. They learn to love their environment and that’s the cornerstone of their education - love the environment and work for it.’’

Pomare-Peita was honoured and humbled to receive the award, and did not believe that she had a chance of winning when she saw the other nominees. But, she believes, the kura’s points of difference helped.

■ The National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA) started in 1994 in Australia and 1996 in New Zealand. Since inception, nearly 40,000 teachers have been nominated. More than 1100 teachers have received over $1,200,000 in professional development grants and prizes.