Te Kāhui has led the development of a series of user-friendly guides fostering culturally responsive and inclusive teaching. The books, known as the Hikairo Schema Book Series, provide accessible, practical, and flexible strategies for kaiako (teachers), based on evidence from decades of research and lived experience.
Professor Macfarlane believes it is the first time there has been a Māori winner of the UC Innovation Medal.
“Māori have always been innovative, and they’ve had to be since the beginning of time with their navigational skills, study of the stars, seas, and forests – so innovation is not a foreign concept or something that’s new for Māori.
“Creating this suite of resources is a project that’s rich in terms of mātauranga Māori and it’s a classic example of culture growing out of the past but functioning in the present and bringing tangible benefits for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako.”
He says the impact of the guides is being felt across the education sector, from early childhood through to tertiary teaching, and he is very proud of the core group of researchers receiving the award on behalf of the wider team at UC and beyond who have contributed to its success.
UC Māori education lecturer Jen Smith, a former primary school teacher, says the series is named after the Te Arawa tupuna (ancestor) Hikairo who was known for being a skilled communicator. “We wanted the teaching sector to understand that we need to be good communicators because that’s a big part of teaching leadership.
“My experience with teachers has been that they recognise the need to increase their understanding of tikanga (customs and values), mātauranga (knowledge), and te reo Māori, and they have an appetite to learn how to put those skills into practice. The Hikairo series is aimed at supporting the vast number of teachers who really want to make a big difference by culturally engaging with their students.”
She says the team has worked together on the project with a common goal – to improve teaching and learning for all students, especially Māori and Pasifika children and young people.
“Angus is someone we all look up to and we have all been mentored by him. All of us in the team are teachers of te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori, and he really wanted us to make a resource that would allow us to give back to the sector and help other teachers. But, outside the four of us, there were heaps of other people who contributed.
“The whakataukī ‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini – My success should not be bestowed onto me alone’ is very relevant to this work, as it was not individual success but success of a collective.”
There are five guides, including one each for early childhood, primary, secondary school and tertiary teachers, available online for purchase in digital or hardcopy. The tertiary guide, Ngā hau e whā o Tāwhirimātea, is available free online or for purchase as a hardcopy. They have sold a combined total of over 5000 copies in print and eBook. The version for primary schools was the highest-selling publication for the New Zealand Council for Educational Research NZCER publisher in 2021.
Exercises in the books invite teachers to rethink their relationships (whakawhanaungatanga) with students and whānau. They challenge teachers to reposition themselves as learners (ako), revise old habits, and embrace cultural differences (kotahitanga) as strengths. The books also suggest ways to reconfigure the learning environment to place caring (manaakitanga) at the centre and to balance caring with assertiveness (ihi). The next book in the series will focus on motivation and behaviour.
Smith says the team is regularly invited to speak at education conferences in Aotearoa and internationally, and the positive feedback and enthusiasm they see in their teacher peers shows the guides are having a significant impact.
“The books are successful because they approach this kaupapa through a strengths-based and affirmative lens. When we position teachers as champions, they drive their practice change so the children in their classes can really flourish. That’s something I feel really proud of.”
- Thank you to kaiako and ākonga from Ilam School, the University of Canterbury Te Kaupeka Oranga/Faculty of Health ākonga, and Pūkenga Tracy Clelland for the footage used in this video.
