University lecturer to look at iwi-based learning

A Waikato University lecturer has won a 10-year research contract to track and assess the benefits of educating Maori children in an iwi-based learning environment or puna.

Senior lecturer Sandy Morrison, from the university’s School of Maori and Pacific Development, will work alongside the Ngati Whakaue Puna in Rotorua as the basis for the study, jointly managed with the MoE.

Ngati Whakaue, which initiated the research, prides itself on education and has developed a puna to raise and nurture their young in a learning environment, Ms Morrison says.

The puna is an educational service which prepares children aged 0-5 for future success through strong family and tribal involvement and reinforcement of identity.

Unlike a kohanga reo, the puna is accountable to the iwi, not a trust.

Ms Morrison’s research will track and assess how this identity impacts on the children’s educational success. If proven beneficial, other iwi may choose to raise their young through a puna to boost their educational achievements, she says.

Ms Morrison, who belongs to the Ngati Whakaue iwi, will undertake the research with Dr Jenny Ritchie, a Unitec Associate Prof. who specialises in early childhood studies. They will also enlist the help of Sandy’s son, Waikato University Masters student Mataia Keepa.

Waikato University Prof. Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, a co-author of the award-winning Mau Moko book, and Sandy’s uncle, Sir Howard Morrison, will act as mentors for the study.

“I am excited to get this unique opportunity to work with the different generations of my family in the transmission of general knowledge and hapu identity,” says Ms Morrison.

The longitudinal research into the Ngati Whakaue Puna will begin this year and span the next 10 years in order to track the children’s learning patterns.

The research is part of the MoE’s 2008 Maori Education Strategy to increase participation in quality ECE as well as realising Maori potential.