Blog
“Why I Teach”: A kōrero with two wonderful wāhine of Onehunga High School
VoicesSarah Dillaman (C14 and past teacher at Onehunga High School) popped in to visit Phinia Evans and Janel Tolentino (both members of Ururoa, C20) in their classrooms at Onehunga High School, to see where the magic happens, and ask them why they joined the Teach First NZ programme, and what they love about teaching.
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Navigating online teaching in the Time of Coronavirus
VoicesAko Mātātupu's Sarah Dillaman (Kairapu of Cohort 2014) had a chat with John Haggie (Kairapu of Cohort 2017) just as he and other teachers around Aotearoa were coming out of several weeks of teaching under lockdown, and finding their energies challenged in different ways on return to the classroom.
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Social justice in the time of COVID-19
VoicesAt Ako Mātātupu, like the rest of the country, we have been figuring out how best to navigate the current crisis caused by the global COVID-19 Pandemic. CEO Jay Allnutt discusses the implications for the organisation, and the communities we look to serve.
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Introducing our new Board Chair, Dr. Jim Mather!
VoicesJim reflects on his own education in South Auckland, his motivations for joining the Ako Mātātupu waka and takes a moment to acknowledge and thank both past and present members of the Ako Mātātupu Board. Welcome to the whānau, Matua Jim!
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Meet Tracie!
VoicesKairapu storyteller and te reo kaiako Tracie Pile joined the Ako Mātātupu movement as a part of the 2015 Cohort, teaching Te Reo Māori at James Cook High School for four years. She is now teaching English at her son's Kura in Otaki.
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Takaia ki te reo: Wrapped in the language
VoicesThirteen year old Takaimaania Ngata-Henare is a national table tennis champion, who has travelled around the world playing competitively. To fundraise for this, Takaimaania is giving the gift of te reo Māori by founding Mau Designz. Repping the marae is just like repping the country. 🏓
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“If you’re too big to serve, you’re too small to lead!”
Voices“If you’re too big to serve, you’re too small to lead!” Introducing the newest member of the recruitment whānau, Agnes Pele.
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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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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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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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Becoming Culture Builders
Voices"How can we be culture builders? How can we be people who build up our classroom and our group of fellow learners so that we can be the best that we can be?" On Pink Shirt Day, Alumni Jeremy Downing discusses the work he is doing to encourage pro-social behaviour.
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Are you eligible to join our flagship programme? Our quiz will help you understand whether you meet our eligibility criteria as well as what subjects you may be able to teach.
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If you would like to find out more about our programme, how it works and who we are looking for, we have created an information pack just for you!