Ki te Ako, Ki te Ārahi, Ki te Āwheo

Te Pū Wānanga o Anamata is in the heart of the Bay of Plenty, at the northern gateway to Te Urewera that encapsulates the essence of it’s people, the Children of the Mist, Ngai Tūhoe. 

Anamata was created to serve the language, cultural and whakapapa aspirations of Tūhoe both nationally and internationally by producing practitioners of Te Reo; cultural leaders who will determine their tribal future and who are conscious of their responsibility for representing their iwi.

Anamata’s tertiary educational initiatives were established with visions of a future for Māori which would provide educational opportunities of excellence. Central to this vision and inextricably entwined with the programme development is the promotion of Te Reo Māori.

The Bachelor of Te Reo Māori and the Tohu Ako Paetahi: Mā te Reo are designed to build intellectual capacity in Te Reo and to build affirmation of Te Reo as the language of everyday for Tūhoe and other iwi.

While it is a worthwhile aim to increase the currency of Te Reo so that it becomes an ‘everyday’ language, of equal concern is the issue of quality. It is timely and appropriate where the language is most prevalent, in Tūhoe, that the lead is taken to set standards of consistent quality. Whilst the Bachelor of Te Reo Māori concentrates on the study of the language alone, Anamata is leading the way in this process of standardising the quality of Te Reo.  The in-depth study of Te Reo in all its myriad forms, its literature, both oral and written, its grammar and whakapapa, is intended to encourage a culture of scholarship and creativity so that the language grows and develops. The reo of the past is studied to produce scholars of the future.

Te Pū Wānanga o Anamata, alongside other Tūhoe organisations, have been working on an education plan which will meet the needs for today and tomorrow. To vision without constraint and explore all the possibilities of implementing life-long learning opportunities for our iwi, has been exhilarating and energising.

The reality is that many issues have yet to be resolved.  Some of these issues are within our control, many are not. For example there are the ongoing Government reforms around compliance and financial benchmarks in the tertiary sector.

Tūhoe have already put some of the building blocks, which will go to realising this vision, into place:

• The Tūhoe Education Authority, established since 1999, has been providing invaluable school-based research and support.
• Te Kotahi a Tūhoe is the group mandated by Tūhoe to organise negotiations with the Crown for raupatu settlement.
• Te Whare Maire project has been tasked to develop the process needed to implement the life long learning plan for Tūhoe.
• The Anamata Research Centre carried out the research necessary to take the raupatu claims before the Waitangi Tribunal.
• and for 14 years, Te Pū Wānanga o Anamata, the Tūhoe tertiary provider, has run certificates, diploma and degree programmes for all within the Mātaatua region.
  

Anamata’s teacher education degree, Tohu Ako Paetahi: Mā Te Reo, is one of the essential building blocks in this iwi education plan, and specifically it will address the critical issue of the maintenance and revitalisation of te reo ō Tūhoe by producing graduates who will be confident and effective biliterate practitioners in delivering all areas of the curriculum through the medium of te reo Māori ō Tūhoe in kura kaupapa Māori, kura Mana Māori, wharekura, whare maire, bi-lingual units and mainstream schools. 

This degree is a Māori-medium, primary, specialist teacher training programme and supports a tino rangatiratanga model for Tūhoe and other iwi Māori.  It focuses on pedagogy Tūhoe with the intergenerational transmission of mātauranga Tūhoe and te reo o Ngāi Tūhoe as its core. It addresses issues concerned with the threatened extinction of te mita ō te reo Tūhoe, where te reo becomes a generic and standardised language.

These are just two of Anamata’s programmes that offer Tūhoe and other iwi the opportunity to learn and to lead within their communities through the knowledge, skills and the tikanga experienced whilst enrolled here.