AUT builds on the success of Te Aronui
Ka whanake anō i a AUT te anga angitu o Te Aronui
Kua whanake anō i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau tana anga para huarahi, arā, a Te Aronui, i te kopounga o Ahorangi Meihana Durie ki tētahi tūranga hou kua tapaina ko Te Toi Aronui.
He harangotengote te tūranga mātanga mātauranga nei. Ko tōna aronga nui ko te taunaki me te whakapakari i te pae ārahi Māori i ngā taumata tiketike o te ao mātauranga, otirā, i te kōkiritanga o te Māori i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau. E hāngai ana ēnei ki te anga o Te Aronui me ngā whāinga kōkiritanga Māori o te wānanga nei.
Hei tā te Tumuaki o Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau, hei tā Ahorangi Damon Salesa, ko tā te kopounga nei he whakatinana i tā te wānanga ū ki te whai kia noho mātuatua ko te pae ārahi Māori, ko te rangahau Māori, ko te whāngaitia o te mātauranga Māori anō hoki. Hei tāna anō, mā konei hoki pakari ake ai te mahi ngātahi ki ngā hapori, ki ngā whānau, ki ngā hapū, ki ngā iwi Māori anō.
"Mā te tū a Ahorangi Durie ki te tūranga o Te Toi Aronui e taunakitia ai, e whakapakaritia anō ai te pae ārahi Māori i ngā taumata mātauranga tiketike i tō mātou wānanga, otirā, te hunga e piki haere ana i ngā taumata o te mātauranga Māori, e mātuatua ana hoki te aro ki te reo me ngā tikanga Māori - he whāinga rautaki e whai tikanga ana ki tō mātou wānanga," tā Ahorangi Salesa.
Ko Ahorangi Durie te Tumuaki o Te Wānanga o Raukawa. I mihia e ia ngā mahi o mohoa nei ki Te Aronui, tae pū atu ki te kaha ake o te arongia o ngā mata pēnei me te mātauranga Māori.
"Ki te tirohia e tātou ngā raraunga nō te Tatauranga ā-Motu o nā tata nei, ka kitea ake e horo ana te nui haere o te taupori Māori. Hei āpiti hoki, e piki mārika ana te tini o te rangatahi, ka mutu, e nui haere ana hoki te tini o ngā pakeke me ngā kaumātua, nā reira, me whakarite tonu te ao whāngai mātauranga e hāngai pai ai ki ō tātou uri."
Hei tāna anō, "E nui haere ana te hiahia kia whakaarohia ko ngā aronga torowhānui me ērā e mātuatua ana te wāhi ki te wānanga mō te taha ki te mātauranga Māori, ka mutu, me whai whakaaro hoki ki ngā kokenga mō te āhua e whakapūmautia ana, e whakaūngia ana anō ngā hangarau o te wā e ngā pou mātauranga iwi taketake ki ngā taiao mātauranga o te nāianei."
I mua nei, e rima tau tā Ahorangi Durie tū hei Tumuaki Māori tuarua ki Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa. I mua atu i tērā, koia te tumu o Te Pūtahi-a-Toi, otirā, o te kura mātauranga Māori o taua wānanga tonu. Nāna hoki i oti ai ētahi hua rangahau whai tikanga nui ki ngā hapori Māori i Tāmaki Makaurau, tae pū atu ki Te Whānau o Waipareira, ki reira ia āwhina ai i te whakatūnga mai o te hōtaka whakawhanake whānau o Ngāi Tini Whetū.
Kua oti i a ia te tū hei pūtakatā matua ki ētahi hautaka rangahau ā-hapori nui nā Te Whānau o Waipareira, kua tū hoki hei HRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ka mutu, koia tētahi o ngā kaiwhiwhi tuatahi i waimarie i te tohu Sir Peter Snell Doctoral Studies mō te whakatairanga i te hauora me te pūtaiao whakapakari tinana.
I waho atu o te ao mātauranga, he nui hoki ngā tūranga kaiārahi ā-iwi, ā-hapū anō hoki o Ahorangi Durie ki ngā rāngai maha, Hauora mai, Ahurea mai, Mātauranga mai anō hoki. Koia hoki tētahi o ngā Pou Tikanga e whā o tēnei wā ki te whakatewhanga turepapa a Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
AUT builds on the success of Te Aronui Framework
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | AUT has built upon the success of its groundbreaking Te Aronui framework with the appointment of Professor Meihana Durie in a new role, Te Toi Aronui.
This scholarly role, which is part-time, is focused on supporting and strengthening Māori scholarly leadership and advancement at AUT in alignment with the University’s Te Aronui framework and Māori advancement goals.
AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa, said the appointment responds to the organisation’s commitments to prioritise Māori leadership, research and teaching as well as helping walk hand in hand alongside hapori Māori (Māori communities), whānau Māori, hapū and iwi.
“Professor Durie’s role as Te Toi Aronui will help support and strengthen Māori scholarly leadership at our institution and growing scholarship in mātauranga Māori that prioritises te reo Māori and tikanga Māori - important strategic objectives for our institution,” said Professor Salesa.
Professor Durie who is Tumuaki of Te Wānanga o Raukawa, acknowledged the work to date on Te Aronui and particularly the increasing emphasis placed upon aspects such as mātauranga Māori.
“If we look at the recent Census data, it tells us that the Māori population is rapidly increasing. Moreover, not only are numbers of rangatahi (young people) climbing exponentially, but we can also see that our numbers of pakeke (adults) and kaumātua (elders) are also increasing, so education in and of itself must continue to adjust to remain relevant for our people.”
“There is also an increasing drive - to consider holistic and wānanga-driven approaches in relation to mātauranga Māori but to also factor in ongoing advancements in terms of how Indigenous educators are continuously embedding and applying technology within current educational environments,” he said.
Professor Durie previously served as Massey University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori for five years before which he was head of Te Pūtahi-a-Toi/School of Māori knowledge prior to that. He has also made significant research contributions to Māori communities in Tāmaki Makaurau including Te Whānau o Waipareira where he helped established the Ngāi Tini Whetū whānau development programme.
He has been the chief editor of a number of Te Whānau o Waipareira community research journals, is a previous HRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow and was an inaugural recipient of the Sir Peter Snell Doctoral Studies Award for Health Promotion and Exercise Science.
Beyond academia, Professor Durie carries a number of iwi and hapū leadership roles across Health, Culture and Education and is currently one of four Pou Tikanga for the Waitangi Tribunal Constitutional Inquiry.