Celebrating mātauranga Māori as a kāhui ako

Te Ohonga, Rangitoto College kapa haka perform on the Maunganui Stage at the inaugural Pīpīwharauroa Festival. Photo by Richard Ng, Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

There is a new mandate in education to bring mātauranga Māori into all curriculum areas, but what does that look like and who is leading the way? These are questions that Rangitoto College sought to answer when it staged its first Pīpīwharauroa – Festival of Mātauranga in September.

Rangitoto College kaiako started the journey in March when they reached out for support from Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira staff and Unitec staff. Together they explored how to engage ākonga in whakapapa and mātauranga and create a meaningful connection to te taiao. 

“Indigenous knowledge systems, including mātauranga Māori, are sought to help us meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world and we see ourselves as part of that change,” say festival founders Kataraina Simpkins, across school lead for mātauranga Māori, and Sarah Galbraith, in school lead for mātauranga Māori.

“The Pīpīwharauroa Festival of Mātauranga is a seed of what we can achieve when we weave together our different worldviews, to ‘whakaoho tangata, whakahauora ngākau’ – awaken the people and reinvigorate our hearts,” they say.

Cross-curricular opportunity

The early spring festival was the culmination of cross-curricular mahi throughout many classrooms of the kāhui ako. For the previous six weeks, kaiako and ākonga had been exploring through the lens of mātauranga Māori and preparing to stage the results for their community. Nine schools and 15 local early learning services were invited, a total of 1,500 students and 50 kaiako throughout the day.

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum science tables connect ākonga to te taiao.

Timed for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, the festival miraculously coincided with both the first mask-free day in more than a year and the first sunny day after weeks of heavy rain. 

Outside, visitors flocked to watch kapa haka, buy food from the Year 10 commerce stalls, explore science with experts from Auckland Museum and Unitec, and to try mātauranga Māori activations hosted by Auckland Council.

Inside was a stunning collection of artworks inspired by the kōrero tuku iho about the pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo) and the pebbles, mahi by ākonga ages four to 18, side by side.

“Mātauranga is a way of being,” says Kataraina. “Through the festival we wanted to explore a way to develop a willingness to engage in mātauranga Māori by walking alongside our kāhui ako, to show our community, from early learning services to secondary school, how mātauranga can be threaded through an authentic concept.”

Whakairo work from Rangitoto students on display.

Sarah explains that they envisage the festival as an annual event for the kāhui with each year building on the last. The learning journey would run on a three-year rotation following the thread of mātauranga through pūrākau and kōrero tuku iho connected to the Pīpīwharauroa.

Melinda Bennett, kāhui ako lead and principal of Murray’s Bay Intermediate, says it’s not just about the one day, but all the learning that has gone into it.

“It has been awesome. Every school and every teacher has been able to dip in as much as they were able. The timing was a little bit tight, so some schools are just dipping their toes in, but we thought it was better to start on a small scale and then grow it.

“I think everyone’s on a journey. Certainly, in our school, with every unit of work we ask, ‘What is the mātauranga Māori view in the learning in which we’re about to engage?’”

Two online kete were created by Sarah and Kataraina for kaiako as a resource to begin the journey into mātauranga Māori, one for Pīpīwharauroa and another for Maramataka.

They were also given a professional development art unit created by art teachers Jess Langley and Diana Tuisalega to support the Pīpīwharauroa art exhibition, and kāhui teachers were also given ready-to-go, differentiated lessons for Years 0 to 8 in Te Reo Māori, Social Science and Science. The emphasis was on whanaungatanga – a shared journey through learning.

For Rangitoto College principal, Patrick Gale, the Pīpīwharauroa Festival was an exciting start to their mātauranga Māori journey.

“It allows us to tie multiple aspects of our curriculum together with a common purpose and a common theme to ensure we develop our understanding and our confidence to engage in this journey.

Rebecca Bray, senior collections manager Natural Sciences, interacts with kāhui students in the museum tents.  

“We are really excited about what this means for our future. We know that our level of engagement and the depth of understanding will increase over time. We’re hopeful that more schools will join us on the journey and that we can extend the reach of this project to ensure that more people will see the huge benefits that mātauranga Māori brings for our schools, and more importantly to our communities.”

A whānau affair

Ākonga from across the community performed at the festival, from early learners through to secondary school seniors, bringing with them whānau and hapū. 

Rangitoto parent Katrina brought her three younger tamariki and her sister to watch her 14-year-old son perform.

“This is a special occasion for our whānau. The little ones are very excited to visit their big brother’s school and see him on the stage. He did so well. He’s a quiet person but through this he has gained a lot of confidence. He’s more talkative, he is speaking up instead of staying in the background.”

Year 11 dean Kane Wilson says the kapa haka performances gave all ākonga a chance to shine.

“It’s very special seeing all those little people up on the stage cracking into it. They are building their leadership capacity. And having done it here at this school means they won’t be scared to come back. When it comes to doing stuff at a serious senior level, Polyfest for example, they won’t be shy, they’ll just go through and be themselves.”

Mairangi Bay principal Nathan Janes beamed as he watched his school’s kapa haka group perform.

“It’s special to be able to celebrate who we are, especially during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, but also to be able to build on the strengths of our community and really honour the principles of Te Tiriti around protection, participation, and partnership. And we’re just excited about the prospects for the future, for our tamariki and embracing who we are.”

Fay Meiklejohn, curriculum leader at Rangitoto College, reflects, “The Pīpīwharauroa Festival, with its academic elements, is the beginning of our journey with mātauranga Māori. It is exciting to use the festival as a vehicle to engage learners in mātauranga through experiences in and out of the classroom. Mātauranga is a taonga, and I feel very honoured to be one of the kaitiaki responsible for esteeming it.”

Artwork by Year 10 student Bella for the Pīpīwharauroa art exhibition. Photo by student photographer Ngaawaimarino Simpkins.