Tuia Te Ako 2025 webinar series

The Tuia Te Ako Webinar series started in 2020 and continues to feature some of the iconic thought leaders in the tertiary education sector, as part of the Ako Aotearoa Mātauranga Māori programme. This year we will offer a series of free, online seminars featuring both Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti guest speakers. 

The theme that runs through them all is that of:
Titiro Whakamuri: Titiro Whakamua – Looking to the past and looking to the future.

We will be asking our thought leaders to reflect on the recent past in their various areas of expertise and interest, and to cast an eye to the future. 

We start with a panel of Tangata Tiriti speakers focussing on our Te Tiriti o Waitangi programme of activity; then two tertiary Te Reo Māori educators who were recipients of the Te Whatu Kairangi Prime Minister’s Award; and finish with the CE of a Work Development Council which has recently released publications about the important contribution of Māori, Pacific and Disabled learners to the economy.

Webinar 1 | 20 August 2025

Topic: Teaching Te Tiriti: Walk the talk with integrity and courage
Speakers: Ruth Peterson (Ako Aotearoa), Christine Herzog and Dean Adam (AWEA)

Watch a recording of the webinar

Webinar 2 | 24 September 2025

Topic: Kia kurupākara anō te Reo – the growth and benefits of teaching te reo Māori at tertiary level.
Speakers: Hiria Tumoana (EIT, Te Aho a Māui) and Dr Ēnoka Murphy (Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi)
NOTE: this discussion will mainly be in te reo Māori

Webinar 3 | 15 October 2025

Topic: The potential contribution to the economy of Māori, Pacific and Disabled learners - with a focus on Māori learners.
Speaker: Phil Alexander-Crawford (Hanga Aro Rau)

History of Tuia Te Ako

Tuia te Ako is our national Māori Tertiary Education Hui. The hui is strategically positioned as an opportunity for Māori in tertiary education as well as iwi, hapū and Māori community representatives from throughout the country to come together to share in discussion and debate on a range of issues that impact on the success of Māori learners.

In August 2010 the inaugural Māori tertiary education hui, Tuia Te Ako, was held at Pipitea marae, Wellington. It was agreed that there was a need for such a gathering for Māori educators to come together to reflect on and share aspects of tertiary teaching and learning and that the event would be an ideal forum to discuss and share existing models of good teaching practice with a focus on assisting whānau, hapū, iwi, and Māori communities to achieve their aspirations.

In 2018, the event broadened to attract Māori and non-Māori educationalists, teachers, lecturers, pastoral carers, policy & programme developers, researchers, training practitioners throughout New Zealand and all people interested in advancing achievement of Māori. In 2022, the conference moved online, and was centred around the 50th anniversary celebration of the Te Reo Māori Petition.

Highlights

Over the years, Tuia Te Ako has hosted a wealth of highly regarded experts in Māori tertiary education. Here are just a few of many highlights:

• 2021: Professor Margaret Mutu discusses racism within the New Zealand tertiary education sector
• 2021: Dr Rhys Jones discusses discusses transformative work in health education, to ensure that students understand medical health inequalities 
• 2015: Dr. Pedro Noguera, New York University – "Education for Empowerment: Motivating Students to Succeed in College and Beyond"
• 2013: Joseph Macfarlane, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, explores the theme of whakapapa with reference to his ongoing educational journey

You will find many more presentations within the Tuia Te Ako collections in our Knowledge Centre.