Frequently Asked Questions
What is He Ata Rawea?
What is Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori?
What is the main focus of He Ata Rawea?
What region is the programme provided to?
Who can enrol?
There are other Te Ahu o te Reo Māori providers. How are they different?
What schools does the programme deliver learning for?
Is this programme for beginners?
Is there value in this for Māori medium?
How much will this cost me?
Is this Professional Development signed off by my Principal?
Does the programme present a qualification at the end?
How long is the programme?
Is the programme online or face-to-face?
The programme uses an Ataarangi approach, what does that mean?
Are there assessments and is the standard achievable for a new learner?
What are the noho marae?
What resources do I need?
Can I return to enrol in the next Level in another intake?
Can more than one person from a school or centre enrol at once?
How do you enrol?
What is He Ata Rawea?
He Ata Rawea is a Māori language learning programme that has been developed by reo practitioners, initially in Taranaki and then extended by others in Whanganui and Manawatū. All contributors have a background in community learning, while also having high level tertiary qualifications and experience in teaching and reo Māori. The central organisation is Te Ataarangi ki Te Kāhui Maunga, a community trust, with strong support from Iwi and long-time local reo exponents.
What is Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori?
In 2018 Minister Kelvin Davis launched a reo focus Ministry initiative that is named Te Ahu o te Reo Māori. The project seeks to work towards ensuring that all learners of the education system between early childhood and secondary school will be able to experience reo Māori being used in a natural contexts of daily interaction in school. It also emphasises the need to link this activity with local Iwi and community aspirations and identity. Because of the diversity of local community setting is each region, Minister Davis encouraged local providers to engage with Iwi and reo champions of their regions to develop and align the programme to regional conditions. There are many providers around the country and they all concentrate on achieving a common set of educational focus areas for reo Māori.
What is the main focus of He Ata Rawea?
He Ata Rawea was a part of Ministry of Education’s initial testing phase of the programme and contributed to the key learning priorities for the national initiative. There are five components:
Local Language – supporting local identity through the reo and tikanga used in education and supporting pronunciation in a way that is recognised locally;
Language Use – building confidence in spaces where reo Māori is being used and being to normalise some reo use in everyday settings;
Language Grammar – becoming familiar and understanding reo structure and applying it appropriately in context;
Curriculum – working to apply reo use in the learning environment among children/youth as a part of their experience within curriculum
Language Revitalisation – understanding what has led to reo Māori becoming at risk and applying plans with distinct strategies to encourage reo revitalisation;
What region is the programme provided to?
The programme roughly conforms with the Ministry of Education region for Manawatū, Whanganui, Taranaki. The activities and programme capacity are generally centred around four main centres: Palmerston North, Whanganui, Hawera, and New Plymouth. The intention is that participants do not have to travel too far to engage, so people can enrol from any school or centre within a reasonable distance from those centres (a drive of about half hour drive from those centres is reasonable perhaps). If you are slightly further away then other options, such as car-pooling to share the travel, may be possible.
Who can enrol?
Any person employed (part-time or full-time) can be a part of the programme. You do not need to be a registered teacher. The emphasis for enrolment is on people who have reasonably regular contact with children/students. For example reception, facility maintenance, learning support all potentially have regular contact. The other emphasis is given to building long-term capability therefore people with long roles in education are encouraged to participate.
There are other Te Ahu o te Reo Māori providers. How are they different?
All providers have designed a programme that meets the five focus areas of reo achievement in this Ministry of Education project, but local reo experts and educators have influenced the delivery model appropriate to local conditions. For example in larger geographically spread regions the online presence may be greater, whereas smaller regions with greater community participation may provide more in-person contact. Each provider has their own learning approach reviewed and accepted by Ministry of Education. You are encouraged to carefully consider the type of learning approach you would like to engage in.
What schools does the programme deliver learning for?
All education schools and centres from Early Childhood to Secondary School that provide learning to children and youth are able to send people to participate in the programme. This includes Māori and English medium Kura/Schools and Kōhanga/Centres, and broader variations. Ministry of Education will verify eligibility.
Is this programme for beginners?
There are three levels currently being delivered by He Ata Rawea. The first level does not require any previous knowledge of reo Māori at all. At level three students will need to have become comfortable in immersion reo and maintain conversation with basic sentences.
Is there value in this for Māori medium?
The earlier levels of the programme will probably be too introductory for most staff of Māori medium kura or kōhanga. From level two on, depending on the level a participant wants to focus on, the programme may be of value. For example, at level two the programme encourages a greater sense of comfort being in around an immersion setting and for a new staff member to kura or kōhanga this may be of some value. Level 2 may also be helpful for approaches to encourage newly enrolled tamariki to feel comfortable in immersion. Whereas staff who have more advanced reo capability may be more interested in level 3 and 4 for the components of reo planning, resource development and reo activities.
How much will this cost me?
Ministry of Education contributes $500 for each participant that is paid to their school or centre. It is anticipated that the school or centre will use some of the $500 to assist with costs for participants to attend. Any additional expenditure to be paid should be negotiated with your school/centre. It may be possible for you to find other ways to reduce costs.
Is this Professional Development signed off by my Principal?
This programme is not considered to be professional development or PLD in the usual sense of the term. This is a Ministry initiative seeking to build reo use capacity in the education experience of all student from ECE to Secondary. The decision to enrol will normally be signed off by principals, and potentially also by your Board of Trustees, as part of managing staff workload, and for the school/centre to receive the Ministry payment.
Does the programme present a qualification at the end?
Completion of each programme level will receive a formal certificate from Ministry of Education and, at the same time, a tohu will be provided from Iwi and our local reo community that recognises the importance of your achievement for local reo and tikanga. In terms of a formal qualification, the certificates are not accredited under the system of qualifications framework of NZQA. Teachers will be able to submit the certificate as evidence in support of their teacher registration reporting.
How long is the programme?
Each level has an intake of 16 weeks duration. There are also range of support classes offered to participants who have completed an intake. These follow up support classes are prioritised towards people who have done less that 50hours of our post-intake support learning.
Is the programme online or face-to-face?
The programme incorporates both forms of delivery. There are two intensive noho marae of 2.5 days length each that are in-person. In between the noho marae there are two sets of six weeks of evening classes. The online learning component uses a Moodle-based learning management system and the classes are run using Zoom.
The programme uses an Ataarangi approach, what does that mean?
The Ataarangi approach to learning Māori language was first developed in the late 70’s. It has been utilised in tertiary education, but is primarily a community learning method and continues to be widely used today. The approach encourages group learning, actively encourages spoken reo use and supports an emphasis on learning by listening and practical activity. The method is well known for using Cuisenaire rods as a learning resource.
Are there assessments and is the standard achievable for a new learner?
Participation is the critical component. The longer learners are in a reo-rich environment the easier it is to acquire oral proficiency. Therefore engagement in the learning space is the priority and everyone has a different life experience and will acquire reo at a different pace. Each week there are reo tasks to complete and contribute to and these are the primary source of evidence of achievement.
What are the noho marae?
At the beginning and end of the programme delivery for each Level there are intensive reo noho (‘noho’ means to stay together as a group). Students stay on a marae for two nights each noho. The aim is to provide two options for each noho, one in the southern area and one to the north. This helps with participants accessing the noho and helps build local networks.
What resources do I need?
The programme has been developed so there are few materials needed. However the main resource will be a device (computer or tablet) with a reasonably strong internet connection and a camera in order to link into Zoom sessions. There are no particular books to purchase other than writing materials and some way to organise your work. Learning resources will be provided and there are a few optional games and activities that can be prepared with photocopied sheets/card. If this is not possible through your workplace then He Ata Rawea can potentially help with that.
Can I return to enrol in the next Level in another intake?
There are four levels that will be provided by He Ata Rawea depending on sufficient numbers. It is intended that each level is a step up on a pathway to building higher reo proficiency and capability for reo use in education. With the support of their schools/centres learners are able to return back to the return to proceed to the next level.
Can more than one person from a school or centre enrol at once?
Definitely yes. It is highly encouraged that two or three from the same school/centre should do the programme together, to provide each other support and to create a critical capacity in the workplace. Most learners come in pairs however some have come in larger groups (one school sent 12 staff into the programme at once). Obviously there are issues of finding relievers and other forms of support that the principal and Board will need to consider with a larger the group size participating together.
How do you enrol?
It is better to signal a Registration of Interest through this website (www.atarawea.maori.nz). This is important because He Ata Rawea can keep track of your initial expression and if something happens within the Ministry of Education enrolment process then programme staff will be able to check to see where your interest is. A registration of interest does not commitment you to the programme and if you do not want to proceed further your name and contact details will be removed from the list of follow-ups. Ultimately you will need to enrol via the Ministry of Education’s website named ‘Whiria’
Enrol now