Blog
Breaking in the right way
VoicesFelicity Powell is in her first year of the Teach First NZ Programme. Her day job is a Computer Science teacher, and she’s also a Google Innovator, IP Law specialist, certified yoga teacher, wine educator, Shaolin Kung Fu kid, founder of a publishing company, an ex-Glacier Guide and penguin enthusiast. This wahine toa shares her journey with Ako Mātātupu; how falling apart allows the right pieces to fall together with purpose, and what educational neuroscience has to do with it.
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Building partnerships to disrupt inequities in NZ education
Partner stories
“Ehara taku toa I te toa takitahi. Engari, te toa takitini.” My strength is not the strength of one; it is the strength of many.
Forming partnerships to have wider impact and create sustainable change is an important part of Ako Mātātupu's strategy. In this edition of NEXT Outlook, our CEO Jay Allnutt explains how those partnerships work, why they are needed and what role philanthropy plays.
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Woolf Fisher Kairapu: Taylor Hughson
In the mediaA huge congratulations to Kairapu (alumnus of Cohort 2016), Taylor Hughson, who has received a Woolf Fisher scholarship to continue his research in education. Described by one of his referees as “someone who has shown immense commitment to serving his community”, Taylor will head to the University of Cambridge to complete his PhD in Education, investigating the current state of teacher policy in New Zealand.
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Te Taitokerau people walking the talk to keep reo Māori alive
News itemsKia Kaha Te Reo Māori! Our Ako Mātātupu whānau are up to incredible things! Check out this incredible hīkoi to commence te wiki o te reo Māori: to celebrate, to raise awareness, and to normalise Te Reo Māori outside of the classroom or Marae. Over 2000 people stepped out, literally, in hīkoi whakanui to celebrate our nation’s language, te reo o tō tātou whenua, and our shared Aotearoatanga.
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Young Brown Scholars
VoicesDr Michelle Johansson presents ten pieces of advice for young brown scholars, as well as ten pieces of advice for the teachers of young brown scholars. With a focus on performing arts, Michelle highlights the tendency for the success of Pasifika peoples in this area to be devalued, where practices stemming from deep and intrinsic cultural literacies may be mislabeled as "natural" abilities.
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Alumni Destinations: “How I became a Policy Analyst.”
VoicesRuby Hale, alumna from our inaugural 2013 Cohort, is currently working as a Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Education. Here, she shares a few words about her journey, her motivations, and some advice to live by.
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Wāhine Toa: We Are Warriors
VoicesWāhine Toa: We Are Warriors was an evening full of mana! We laughed together, cried together and were witnesses to the moving stories of our wāhine toa who shared their brave experiences being educators and facilitators of learning.
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Opinion: Jay Allnutt – It’s not the route you take; it’s the difference you make
In the mediaTeach First NZ chief executive Jay Allnutt argues that it is not the route you take to qualify as a teacher that matters, but about the difference you make for children.
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Pasefika mo le Pasefika
News items"In our work we challenge traditional notions of literacy because for Pasifika, literacy is not the pen on the page," Dr Johansson explained. Read the full article about the success of the 'Pasefika mo le Pasefika' model in this culturally responsive school, PASS.
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Introducing Cohort 2019!
News itemsWe held week one of nine for the Ako Mātātupu Summer Initial Intensive whakangungu kaiako at Camp Morley on the Manukau Harbour, and C13 Kairapu Hannah Lees reflects on Week One for Cohort 2019.
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Southside Rise: 10 Lessons
News itemsIf you build it, they will come. Our young people do not need another shiny knight to come in and save them; open the door, and they will save you." Dr Michelle Johansson, our Programme Director, shares 10 lessons she learnt from launching the Southside Rise movement.
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A Digital Future for Education
News itemsA digital future for education: Risks and opportunities for equality (Pt 1). Our CEO, Jay Allnutt, explores the digital divide, arguing that we should understand this divide as about more than just access to the internet and digital devices.
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Kairapu Retreat
In the media"All of us seek an Aotearoa in which all young people and their communities are free to flourish, and in turn able to make their own contributions to sustainability, justice, knowledge, and creative expression." Hannah Lees, Cohort 2013 Alumna, working as a lecturer at AUT's Colab this semester and serving with Ako Mātātupu's Kairapu Team, reflects on the annual Ako Mātātupu Alumni-led retreat.
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The Dangers of the Comfort Zone
Partner storiesLysea Munoz (C17) won the Education and Social Work Award for ProjectAko, which aims to connect students and teachers to professionals in various industries through project-based learning opportunities. Here she discusses her motivations and learnings.
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Risks and Opportunities for Equality
News itemsA digital future for education: Risks and opportunities for equality (Pt 2). Our CEO, Jay Allnutt, explores different motivations for integrating digital technologies into education, key risks to beware of, and ways forward to ensure that all young people fulfill their potential and are prepared for the future.
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Let us Rise Together
News items"Don't let anyone say that you cannot achieve what you set your mind to... Go forth, blaze the trail and let us rise together." Nadeen Papali'i, alumna from our 2013 Cohort, is currently Year 13 Dean and Director of Health Science Academy at Tangaroa College, and discussed her latest initiative, the Talanoa Cafe, on Radio 531pi this week.
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La Manuia le Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa!
VoicesTalofa Lava! Happy Aso Faralie! It's Sāmoan Language Week and we're celebrating the third most spoken language in New Zealand - Gagana Sāmoa - with some of our Programme Participants from our 2018 Cohort. Watch the full video here.
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What would you change about New Zealand’s education system?
VoicesIn collaboration with the Arts Students’ Organisation (ASO), Teach First NZ: Ako Mātātupu held an Essay Writing Competition to gather community responses about potential initiatives to facilitate positive change in Aotearoa. Read the winning essay from Helena Wiseman here! Helena donated her $150 prize-money to the transformative Glenavon School in Blockhouse Bay.
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