Blog
Trust as foundation for the learning relationship, with Kairapu Mitchell Clark
VoicesProudly raised in Manurewa, Mitchell Clark (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tautahi) has gone from strength to strength since embarking on the Teach First NZ Programme as part of Cohort 2018 with Ako Mātātupu. Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation on teaching physics and music, finding ground to stand in Māori and rainbow identities, and some advice (and anti-advice!) for those considering stepping into teacher training.
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Te Tiriti-Based Futures, with Kairapu Hannah Betts
VoicesStop rushing, develop trust, accept nuance: just some of the ways we can work toward a Te Tiriti-based future. On International Womens Day - and all days - we are lucky to learn alongside people who are making big and small steps towards a reindigenised Aotearoa. Read on to think through the slower pace required for relational journeys toward a just society, and consider Hannah Betts' invitation to sign up for Te Tiriti-based Futures webinar sessions!
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Growing a Meaningful Career, with Alysha Bentley
Voices
Introducing Kāuru Akatoro Recruitment Lead, Alysha Bentley!
Alysha is on our hīkoi toward an Aotearoa where every young person realises their potential. Her role as Kāuru Akatoro is all about connecting with people who are interested in becoming change-makers in the education system. Our inaugural cohort alumna Hannah Lees caught up with Alysha to learn about her path and hear her advice to anyone seeking a meaningful career.
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“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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