NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kahu

The power and potential of mātauranga Māori in education

NZ Herald
10 Jul, 2023 09:01 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Te Tumu and Professor Melinda Webber of the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Photo / Supplied

Te Tumu and Professor Melinda Webber of the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Photo / Supplied

There is profound value in mātauranga Māori for framing and addressing critical research questions and educational practice in Aotearoa New Zealand, says Professor Melinda Webber (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue).

The deputy dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Work is set to deliver her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, July12.

In the lecture, Webber will draw together the threads of 25 years of teaching, research and service in education, recognising the power and potential of mātauranga Māori in the mahi rangatira (chiefly work) of educators.

She says mātauranga Māori helps to shape the contexts, conditions and content of her research.

“He mana tō te tangata — every person has the power and potential to positively transform the world around them,” she says.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Webber’s work, guided by this key idea, is strengths based and seeks to shine a light on what is working and how those things might be scaled up or amplified.

Mum Hana Ruth and nine-year-old daughter Luka Crellin-Ruth taking in some education at a Matariki workshop. Photo / Paul Taylor
Mum Hana Ruth and nine-year-old daughter Luka Crellin-Ruth taking in some education at a Matariki workshop. Photo / Paul Taylor

Weaving together ancestral knowledges of hītori, waiata, karakia, whakatauki and whakapapa with contemporary research findings, Webber’s teaching and research show the profound value of mātauranga for framing and addressing critical research questions and educational practice in Aotearoa.

Mātauranga concepts related to excellence, persistence, reciprocity and relationship can transform educational approaches and practices, enabling Māori students, their whanau and communities to flourish.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Webber will explore the breadth and depth of mātauranga Māori, while going beyond the common conception of mātauranga and its reference to traditional knowledge or science.

“It’s much bigger than that,” she says.

“Mātauranga is both traditional and contemporary. It’s a constantly evolving body and system of knowledge that is reliant on Māori practising what we already know and pioneering new knowledge to ensure a balance between the natural world, the human and non-human. It’s another way of making sense of the world.”

Mātauranga tuku iho (ancestral knowledge) teaches us that humans are connected to everything in this world and aren’t at the top of the whakapapa hierarchy.

“If we start to think in this way about the world around us, with regard to everyone and everything we interact with, it requires us to be consistently ‘mana-ful’ in our interactions.”

Webber says while Western-based educational research focuses a lot on identifying and describing the problem, a mātauranga Māori approach is focused on finding a solution.

“Both research approaches have a place in the world.”

As a descendant of Te Tai Tōkerau, Webber draws on many of the teachings from tūpuna and rangatira, one of which is inscribed at the whare rūnanga of the meeting house at Waitangi.

“It says: ‘ko ahau anō tētahi i reira — I, too, once was here’.

“It’s a call to us to never forget we leave an imprint on the world.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The inaugural lecture will be held at A block A201/J1 lecture theatre, on the Epsom campus, from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Professor Melinda Webber’s extensive background in education has earned her a Marsden Fast-Start grant to undertake a research project examining the distinctive identity traits of Te Tai Tōkerau tupuna. She also spent six years as a co-principal investigator on the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga-funded project Ka Awatea.

– This article was first published by University of Auckland and is republished with permission

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Kahu

Politics

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM
Kahu

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM
New Zealand

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Kahu

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM

Move comes after MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp died last month.

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM
'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM
Wellington Opera brings historic tale of Rotorua soldier to life

Wellington Opera brings historic tale of Rotorua soldier to life

08 Jul 09:46 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP