Mātauranga pūtaiao
This interactive provides an overview of a 4-week part-time online programme – Puna Aronui that supported educators to deepen their understanding of mātauranga Māori and its role as a co-equal knowledge system within education. Through reflection, resources and collaborative learning, participants were supported to make purposeful and sustainable shifts in their classroom practice. This was a Science Learning Hub Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao PLD programme funded by the New Zealand Association of Science Educators and the Network of Expertise.
Select a label to obtain more information about the weekly learning focuses and activities.
Select here to view the full transcript and copyright information.
Puna Aronui was a 4-week part-time online programme funded by the New Zealand Association of Science Educators and the Network of Expertise. It was designed to support educators to build their understanding of mātauranga Māori in science education and explore how it can be authentically and meaningfully integrated into classroom practice. Through a combination of live sessions, learner-directed activities and engagement with research-informed resources, participants examined mātauranga Māori as a co-equal knowledge system alongside Western science. The programme aimed to strengthen confidence, deepen professional reflection and support purposeful shifts in teaching practice that value equity, cultural responsiveness and ongoing connection.
This interactive pulls out some of the valuable information from the programme to provide a learning framework, prompting you to work through the content for your own learning and reflection.
The article Puna Aronui – Exploring mātauranga pūtaiao provides pedagogical suggestions and additional resources.
To use this interactive, move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and click to obtain more information.
Kawakawa background image courtesy of Judi Lapsley Miller, CC BY 4.0
Transcript
Week 1 focused on exploring teachers’ own thoughts on mātauranga Māori
To start, participants reflected on their own understandings of mātauranga Māori and developed a shared understanding of the key kupu (terms) used throughout the programme. They selected from a range of research-informed resources to deepen their understanding of mātauranga Māori and its meanings in educational contexts. Participants were invited to examine their own understandings of mātauranga Māori in relation to science. Using creative reflection approaches, such as diagrams or visual representations, they reflected on the influences shaping their thinking, moments that challenged or extended their perspectives and the origins of their own knowledge.
Actions
Reflect on your own understanding of mātauranga Māori.
Watch this recorded webinar with Hēmi Whaanga. What sparked your thinking or shifted your perspective?
Draw a picture/diagram showing your understanding of mātauranga and science.
Image collage, © University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
Week 2 focused on developing an understanding of mātauranga Māori
In week 2, participants further developed their understanding of mātauranga Māori in science education, building on the shared language and concepts introduced in the previous week. Through engagement with selected resources and reflective activities, they explored the depth, diversity and contemporary relevance of mātauranga Māori. This learning supported a more informed and confident approach to recognising a robust and rich knowledge system. Through recorded and live sessions, including contributions from Pauline Waiti, Rosemary Hipkins and Nick Bryant, participants explored how science and mātauranga Māori function as distinct yet co-equal knowledge systems. These sessions provided examples, prompting questions and opportunities such as bicultural co-design to deepen understanding of how knowledge systems can sit alongside one another.
Actions
Watch this video with Nick Bryant. Reflect on your own funds of knowledge, mātauranga-ā-whānau. What life experiences/knowledge do you bring to the classroom?
Explore the idea of knowledge systems in this recorded webinar with examples from science and mātauranga Māori.
Reflect on whose knowledge is validated in your teaching materials and classroom discussions.
Artwork courtesy of Brooklyn Kahuroa
Week 3 focused on mātauranga Māori in the classroom
In week 3, participants explored further how mātauranga Māori could be meaningfully and authentically integrated into classroom teaching. The week was learner directed, allowing participants to engage flexibly with the content and activities. The activities further explored bicultural co-design, experiences of wahine Māori in education and science and the work of kaipūtaiao Māori. Participants were supported to locate and evaluate resources, strengthen connections to their own classroom contexts and reflect on how mātauranga Māori could be meaningfully integrated into practice. Emphasis was placed on being brave and open to shifting practice, moving beyond viewing Māori knowledge as an add-on towards recognising it as an integral, co-equal part of science education. Participants engaged with the webinar Māori knowledge in science education: He mana ōrite, he awa whiria, deepening their understanding of co-equal and interwoven knowledge systems in educational practice.
Actions
Watch the presentation Experiences as wahine Māori in education and science.
Find out about three kaipūtaiao Māori who have a connection to an area you teach, your location or a personal interest. The New Zealand Association of Science Educators has a list of scientist profiles available here.
Watch the recorded webinar Taking a knowledge systems approach in the classroom: Some dos and don’ts.
Image collage, Private collection. All rights reserved.
Week 4 focused mātauranga-informed teaching
In week 4, participants focused on planning purposeful and practical actions to strengthen mātauranga-informed teaching in their own contexts. Through reflection and forward planning, participants were supported to recognise that meaningful change often occurs through small, deliberate shifts and that continued connection, learning and action are key to sustaining mātauranga-informed practice in the classroom. The programme concluded by encouraging participants to consider what comes next and implement an informed shift in their classroom practice.
Actions
Reflect on what you already do in the classroom to connect with mātauranga pūtaiao.
Read this example of a primary classroom teacher who looked at kōwhai with her class.
Think about what you would like to try in your classroom.
Kete woven by Rita Baker. Photograph by Heinz-Günther Malenz. © The Ethnological Museum of Berlin, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
