Airana Ngarewa shares how he chose teaching knowing that he was returning to the world that once failed him, this time as someone determined to truly see young people. To lean in. To listen. To awhi and support.
As an educator, he works daily with rangatahi, many who carry their own weight of systemic disadvantage, identity disconnection, and social challenges.
His approach to teaching isn’t about top‑down instruction. Instead, he positions himself as a cheerleader, an audience to his students’ gifts and stories .Knowing his students’ lives, their history, their whānau is the doorway to real learning.
For many young people, having a teacher who’s walked crooked paths, left school, fought in the ring, and come back with stories and purpose means something, that presence can feel like hope.
If you’d like to watch the full conversation, you can check it out here.
