Te Kunenga o te Ao Tikanga - Rangahau (new Indigenous studies) course...

 Only a couple of weeks away from teaching a new course called 'Te Kunenga o te Ao Tikanga - Rangahau' that loosely translates as 'the gathering of world protocols' i.e. indigenous studies - research. It's a level 4 course and foundational to the Masters in Applied Indigenous knowledge course that is offered on campus.

With only a few spaces left, it's exciting to see my last two year's course transition into this new one which is more in depth and also still retains an understanding between western, Maori and indigenous ways of thinking, understanding and learning etc.

This year is similar to last year's with weekly Tuesday tutorials of either morning or evening sessions and 8 weekend noho which are Friday night to Sunday lunch weekend classes with the option to sleep over at a Marae or the campus noho space with meals provided.

I also included within the weekend noho, field trips to various Research spaces with Indigenous knowledge that are accessible to the public: be it Research centres, library spaces, art galleries, museums spaces, landmarks, geographical spaces etc. guest speakers and viewing indigenous arts whether digital or live.

It's an exciting space for people with indigenous backgrounds or those who are interested as it encourages viewing from various different perspectives in viewing Maori perspectives, western perspectives, ones own perspective and also others within the class.

The 4 main components of our indigenous studies will be viewing: Mana tangata (people power - loosely translated) with an interest in Maori and indigenous leadership; Mana whenua (the power of land/s) and connections; Mana reo (the power of language) particularly with an interest in learning te reo Maori, the Maori language and own indigenous languages; Te Mana Ao Turoa (the power of knowledge) through indigenous knowledge and exploring, understanding, indigenous world views.

It's a fees free course (no fees to be paid) for the whole year i.e. from March to November with a 2 week mid year holiday and I would highly recommend this course for educators and particularly those who are working with children/youth from indigenous backgrounds so that you don't actually have to come from indigenous ancestry but if interested then it does give a good background of understanding in how to work, understand, perceive the various world views that are out there.

If anyone is interested, please contact me with only a few limited spaces available ...