He tikanga whakaako e whakaū ana i te mana Māori

Kaupapa Māori Award

Ahorangi Tūhono, Te Kura Matatini ki Otago

Waitaha, Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Maniapoto

“E arahina ana āku mahi whakaako e te mana Māori, kia huri rawa rā te pūnaha whakahaere, kia hua mai ai hoki ngā putanga taurite.”

Hei tā Kelli, he hōnore nui āna mahi huhua hei kaiako. Mai i te tūranga kaiako tae atu ki tērā o te kaitohutohu mō te mahi ako, mai i te tūranga kaiwhakangungu kaiako hou ki tērā o te kaitohu rautaki i Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga – ko tāna, he waihanga i ngā ara hou kia puāwai ai ngā ākonga Māori. Hei tāna anō, he hua ia nō te māia me te mātātoa o ōna tīpuna, ā, ko te mana Māori te tūāpapa o āna mahi whakaako kia puāwai rawa ai ngā kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea. Koianei ngā pou o tōna whare whakaako e hāpai ana i ngā ākonga, e whakatutuki ana i ngā wawata o Ngāi Māori mā te whakamarumarutanga o ngā tikanga o te Iwi Taketake me te whakatairangatanga o ngā mahi e turaki ana i ngā mahi tāmi ā tauiwi.

E ai ki tēnei mokopuna ā Te Maihāroa, arā, o te tohuka, o te poropiti whakamutunga o Te Waipounamu, he whāinga nui te mātauranga ki a rātou ko tōna whānau i tēnei ao hurihuri. I huri ōna tīpuna mai i te tūranga poropiti ki tērā o te kaikohikohi rīwai, ā, i te reanga kotahi anake, ka manenetia rātou, ka tāhaengia hoki ō rātou whenua. Nā tō rātou māia ki te whakaora i a rātou anō, e ū tonu ana ngā mōrehu i ngā pēhitanga ā tauiwi. Nā ō rātou whakapaunga kaha, ka whakatipuria ia ki te takiwā o Wānaka, ka kuraina ki ngā kura pai. Ko Kelli te tuatahi o tōna whānau ki te whiwhi i te tohu paetahi, i te tohu paerua me te tohu kairangi. He wahine pukumahi ia, pērā i ōna tīpuna. Ka whai tamariki ia i a ia e rangatahi tonu ana, ka pakeke ia, kātahi ka whaiwhai i te mātauranga, ā, kei te whakatipu rāua ko tōna hoa i ā rāua tamatāne tokorima, ā, he heamana takirua ia o ngā huihuinga mō te rongomau ki rāwāhi.

I te tau 2010, nā Kelli te kaupapa o Māori Mentoring i whakatū ki ngā kura tuarua o Ōtepoti hei tautoko i ngā ākonga Māori o ngā Tau 9 me te Tau 10 kāre rawa e āta eke ana ki ngā taumata e tika ana mō rātou. Kua whakatakotoria ngā painga o tetahi atu o āna kaupapa e hāpai ana i te hiranga o te reo Māori i Ōtepoti, ki tāna tuhinga roa mō tōna paerua, arā, ki Day Te Reo School Excellence. Nā rāua ko tetahi hoamahi te akoranga whakapūmau tikanga, arā, a Te Weu 101: Ko Wai Au i whakahoahoa i raro i tana tūranga hei kaiwhakaako i te whare wānanga. Ko te mahi ā ngā kaiako hou, he waihanga i tetahi taonga kia mārama ai rātou ki te hiranga o tēnei mea te ahurea ki ngā ākonga. I raro i tana tūranga hei Māori Learning Advisor ki Te Kura Matatini o Taranaki, ka waihanga ia i te Māori Learner Handbook, arā, he puka ārahi tērā e tautoko ana i ngā kaimahi ki te hāpai i ngā tikanga i roto i ngā mahi ako me ngā whakapōtaetanga Māori.

I te tau 2018, ka whakatūria ia ki ngā tūranga whakahaere hou e rua ki Te Kura Matatini ki Otago, arā, ko te Tumuaki: Rakahau Māori me te Tumuaki Kaihautū: Te Kāhui Whetū, i mua i tōna whakawhiwhinga ki te tūranga Kaihautū mō te wā kikī i te mutunga o te tau 2020. I raro i ēnei tūranga, ka whakatūria e ia ngā rangahau e pā ana ki te mōhio o te whakahaere whānui ki ngā tikanga, e arotahi ana hoki ki ngā putanga taurite mō ngāi Māori. Nāna anō te rautaki mahi o Te Rautaki Rakahau Māori i whakawhanake, i whakatū hoki, hei whakaū i ngā rangahau Māori ki roto i ngā mahi katoa o Te Kura Matatini ki Otago. I raro i te mana o te Tari o te Kaitohutohu me te iwi kāinga, nāna ngā huihuinga rangahau Māori i whakatū hei whāngai i ngā kōrero e pā ana ki ngā tikanga Māori ki ngā rangahau katoa huri noa i te kura. I te tau 2018, ka tāpaea hoki aua kōrero ki ngā rangahau katoa ā ngā ākonga, ā, he tuatahitanga tērā.

Nā Kelli te pae tukutuku o KTO Kaupapa Māori Moodle i whakahoahoa hei tautoko i ngā ākonga me ngā kaimahi e whaiwhai ana i te mahi rangahau. Hei reira ka tūhura, ka whakapakari hoki ngā ākonga me ngā kaimahi i tō rātou māramatanga ki ngā mātāpono me ngā pātuinga i raro i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, waihoki ki ngā take e whai pānga ana ki a Ngāi Māori, pērā i te mātauranga, i te mana whakahaere, i te whakapapa me te huahuatanga. Nāna te rōpū whakahaere o te Māori Research Symposia ki Te Kura Matatini ki Otago i whakahaere i raro i tana tūranga hei Tumuaki: Rakahau Māori (i te tau 2018) me te hui Kaitiakitaka i tū i te tau 2020. Kei te takiwā o te 120 ngā kairangahau Māori i tae atu ki aua hui.

He nui anō ngā mahi a Kelli mō te kaupapa o Capable NZ ki Te Kura Matatini ki Otago, pērā i tētahi kaupapa ā-ipurangi e whakamana ana, e whakawhānui ana i te mātauranga o te ākonga mā tetahi ara tere ki te whakatutukinga o ngā tohu mātauranga, mai i te tohu paetahi ki te tohu kairangi. I te tau 2020, nā tetahi o ngā arotake ā Capable NZ ngā taupā nō roto tonu i te pūnaha mātauranga i tautohu. E tino whakaū ana aua āhuatanga i ngā putanga taurite kore mā ngā ākonga huri noa i te kura, ā, ko ngā ākonga Māori tetahi hauwhā o tērā hunga. I te tau 2021, ka tahuri ngā kaiwhakahaere o Capable NZ ki te whai i te tauira o ngā pātuinga i raro i Te Tiriti. Ka arotahi rātou ki te kounga o ngā akoranga, o ngā kaiwhakaako me ngā rangahau me te whakawhanaketanga ake o ngā tikanga o te auahatanga, o te manaakitanga me te pono. Nā Kelli te rōpū o Capable Māori i ārahi, arā, he kaupapa ako tērā e whakaea ana i ngā hiahia o te Māori, e aro nui ana ki te tangata, ā, he ngāwari anō ngā whakahaere ā-tuihono mā te pakeke. He kaupapa hoki tērā e whakapuare ana i te tatau ki te ao mātauranga me ngā tohu paerua, ā, i raro i te kaupapa o Capable Māori ka piki ake anō te nui o te hunga i eke ki te pae o angitū ki tua atu i te 96% tāngata i eke ki taua taumata, i mua noa ake i te horapatanga o te mate urutā.

Nā runga i ngā urupare ā ngā ākonga, ka whakatū a Kelli rātou ko etahi atu i tetahi wānanga tuhituhi ki te marae hei tautoko i ngā mahi ā ngā ākonga kia tutuki pai ai ā rātou mahi. Kua āta whakatōkia ngā noho marae ki ngā mahi ā ngā kāhui ako ināianei hei manaaki, hei hāpai hoki i ngā akoranga o ngā ākonga, ā, he tokomaha atu i te 25 rātou. Nā runga i ngā hua o ngā tūmomo hononga ki ngā iwi me ngā pakihi Māori, kua whakapūmautia te tū o Capable Māori ki te ao pakihi, waihoki, kua whai tauira etahi atu kia eke hoki ā rātou mahi ki ngā taumata tiketike.

Nō te tīmatanga o te noho taratahi i te tau 2020, ā, nō te whakakorenga o ngā huihuinga ā-tinana, ka kuhu mai te kāhui nui rawa o ngā ākonga nō Ngāi Tahu ki te kaupapa o Capable Māori. Nā Kelli tetahi pae tukutuku Moodle i whakatū, he mea whakawai tāngata . Kei te reo Māori te tahua takaiho, he ngāwari, he mārama hoki ngā rauemi hei whai mā ngā ākonga e noho ana ki te kāinga. I tutuki ēnei mahi i raro i te kaupapa Māori, ā, ināianei, kua tū tetahi pae tukutuku Moodle motuhake mā ia kāhui ako, kia whai ai rātou i ngā rauemi Māori, pērā i te Capable Māori Manual, i te noho marae me ngā pānui whakatairanga hei tautoko i te rapunga mai me te rēhitatanga o ngā ākonga mō Capable Māori. Nā ēnei tū kaupapa, ka tohua a Kelli e ōna hoamahi, ka whakawhiwhia hoki ia ki te Implementation of Māori Strategic Frame Work Staff Award 2020. I raro i tana tūranga hei kaiaromatawai o Capable NZ, kei te ārahi a Kelli i ngā tukanga aromatawai mā te kāhui ako o Capable Māori, kei te whakangungu i ngā kaiaromatawai, kei te kuhu atu hoki ia ki ngā aromatawai kaupapa Māori mō ngā ākonga e whai ana i ō rātou tohu mātauranga ki ngā taumata o raro iho, o runga ake hoki i te tohu paetahi. Ki a ia anō, he mea nui ngā tikanga ako o te tuakana/teina, kia āhei ai ngā ākonga Māori me ērā nō ngā Iwi Taketake ki te eke ki ngā taumata tiketike i te whare wānanga. 

E pūmau ana a Kelli ki te mana o te Māori mā ngā rangahau whai-taunaki e pā ana ki ngā kaupapa Māori me te whakapikinga ake o te reo me te mātauranga Māori. Nā āna rangahau nunui, kua whakaputaina ngā pukapuka pērā i a Ka Puananī o Te Reo as an Effective Means of Te Reo me Ōna Tikanga Enrichment from the Perspective of Tamariki and Whānau (2012), i a Optimal Learning Conditions for Master and Doctor of Professional Practice for Māori Learners (2021), i a Ko te mouri o te mahi, te mouri o te ora (2021) hoki. Nāna tētahi wāhanga o Unleashing potential – legitimising Māori talent through Capable Māori (2022) i tuhituhi, ā, i mahitahi ia ki etahi atu ki te whakaputa i ngā pukapuka nei a Mapping Transformational Change (2019) me Communities of Practice for Independent Learning Practitioners at Capable NZ, Otago Polytechnic (2020). Nāna hoki te ētitatanga o Our Sacred Māori Voices (2022), o Indigenous Autoethnography: illuminating Māori voices (2023) me Māori and Pacific Models of Praxis (e tāia tonutia ana) i ārahi. Ka whiriwhiringia a Kelli ki te tohu o te Outstanding Indigenous Scholar nā te hiranga o tōna mātauranga me āna takohanga rangahau ki te rangahau ā-Iwi Taketake me ōna hononga ā-hapori, i ngā tohu Indigenous Inquiry Circle Research ki te 20th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry Conference 2024. Kei a ia te tūranga o te Co-General Secretariate Asia Pacific Peace Research Association (2022–2026) me tērā o te Heamana Takirua o te International Peace Research Association 2024–25.

“Me whakapiki ake te tokomaha o te hunga Māori me ērā o ngā Iwi Taketake ki roto i te ao mātauranga teitei huri noa i te motu me te ao, kia ahu whakamua ai ngā wawata e pā ana ki te hauora me te whanaketanga o ngā reanga Iwi Taketake.”