Empowering students and teachers

By Sonia Panapa

Deputy Principal, Wakatipu High School

Pasifika media in the digital era 2007 John Utanga.  

Around the time Manaiakalani officially began

Everyone should be able to participate fully in the digital world because digital technologies increasingly impact all aspects of our lives,[Footnote3] from smartphones and online services to artificial intelligence.

Research by digital.govt.nz 2022

Kedgley Intermediate School: 

'As a result of Lalaga, every child in the school knows that they have at least one adult who they can speak to, who has time for them, has their back and genuinely cares about them'.

A Samoan proverb ' Ua usiusi fa'avaasavili' can be used in this context.   'To obey like a canoe before the wind'.  We can picture a canoe in the vast sea, at the mercy of the winds, the current and tides.

OUR SET OF CANOEIST - what's in the wind that we individually and collectively contribute to as teachers and community?  Go here to read one teacher's experience through the lense of the classroom AND as a parent of the community.  

Principal of Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae Arihia Stirling credits their record pass rates to their cultural approach to learning.   

“Thinking about the future, Māori and Pacific or bicultural children will be really profound in population stats. So we need to get ready for that, so let's get on and embrace that.”