I haere mai a Ahorangi Huia Tomlins-Jahnke ki Te Kunenga ki P奴rehuroa i te tau 1991, ki te whakaoti i tana tohu paetahi i te m膩tauranga. I te w膩 i whakatau ia kia noho mai, i ui ia i te p膩tai ki a ia an艒:
"M膿n膩 kei te mahi ahau ki ng膩 w膩nanga, ka p膿hea e whai hua ai aku ake uri?"
I tana umanga tuatahi hei kaiako kura tuatahi i te tonga o T膩maki Makaurau i nui ana wheako ki ng膩 膩puta o te m膩tauranga m艒 Ng膩i M膩ori me ng膩 uri n艒 Te Moana-nui a Kiwa 鈥 膩, koia t膿tahi w膩hanga o tana whakautu:
"I whakaakona ahau kia whakapono ko ng膩 kaiako te p奴tahi o ng膩 m膩tauraga katoa, 膩, ko ng膩 tauira ng膩 kairiro. Heoi i makere t膿r膩 whakaaro i te w膩 i t墨mata ahau ki te whakaako i te tonga o T膩makai Makaurau, i t奴taki ahau ki 膿tahi tamariki i whakaatu mai i te ao o Poron墨hia, me ng膩 moutere o Te Moana-nui a Kiwa, he tamariki whai p奴kenga n艒 艒 r膩tau ake whenua k膩ore au i m艒hio. Waihoki, he reo rua r膩tau. Kotahi anake taku reo. I whai p膩nga nui ng膩 tamariki nei me 艒 r膩tau wh膩nau ki ahau, i tipu i konei taku m膩t膩pono whakaako, ako hoki 鈥 i whakaako mai r膩tau i te uara o te m膩tauranga o ng膩 tamariki me 艒 r膩tau wh膩nau i roto i te ao m膩tauranga me ng膩 kura ako."
Ko te m膩t膩pono nei ka noho hei t奴膩papa m艒 te umanga o Ahorangi Tomlins-Jahnke. I t奴 ia hei Ahorangi T奴hono i te M膩tauranga M膩ori, iwi-taketake hoki i te tau 2006, ko ia hoki te Upoko o Te Uru M膩raurau i te tau 2011. Kua rangahaua wh膩nuitia e ia ng膩 kaupapa p膿nei i te m膩tauranga whakawhitiwhiti k艒rero 膩-wh膩nau, te mana wahine, te whakawhanake hoki i ng膩 hap奴 me ng膩 iwi.
Kua whakamahi mai a Ahorangi Tomlins-Jahnke i ng膩 kitenga o ana rangahau ki te waihanga marautanga, tohu hoki m膩 ng膩 tauira i Te Kunenga ki P奴rehuroa. I te tau 1999, i tana kite ake ko ng膩 ritenga rangahau P膩keh膩 i whakaakona ki a ia k膩ore i whakaae kia p膩tai ai ia i ng膩 p膩tai m艒 te iwi M膩ori me 艒 r膩tau hapori, i whakawhanake ia i ng膩 marautanga tohu paetahi me te tohu paerua tuatahi m艒 ng膩 ritenga rangahau M膩ori.
"Ko te anga rangahau o tauiwi ka whakangungu i a koe kia tawhiti ai koe i t艒 kaupapa, kia whai meka. Ko aku rangahautanga ki te whakawhanake i ng膩 iwi me ng膩 hap奴, hei tauira, i k墨ia he taupatupatu, 膩, i reira te p艒h膿h膿 k膩ore ahau e titiro meka atu ki aku rangahau me aku t膩taritanga. Heoi m艒 M膩ori, ko te tikanga rangahau wh膩nau, iwi, hap奴 M膩ori he rerek膿 鈥 ko te 膩hei, ko te m艒hio ki ng膩 horopaki rawa-t艒rangap奴 kia taea ai te t膩tari motuhenga me te whakaw膩 m膩 te tirohanga M膩ori. I whakaaro ahau me m膩tua whakangungu i ng膩 tauira M膩ori ki 膿nei tukanga."
In膩 tata nei kua 膩rahi ia i te whakawhanaketanga o 膿tahi kaupapa whakaako kaiako, 膩, ko te kaupapa M膩ori kei t艒na p奴take. Ko Te Aho T膩tairangi me Te Aho Paerewa ka whakarite i ng膩 tauira m艒 艒 r膩tau umanga whakaako i ng膩 p奴naha Kura Kaupapa M膩ori. I toko ake te whakaaro m艒 膿nei kaupapa ki a Ahorangi Tomlins-Jahnke i te w膩 i k墨 t膿tahi tira kai膩rahi kaiako kura me whakangungu an艒 i ng膩 kaiako n艒 ng膩 kura m膩tauranga o tauiwi 鈥 ko ng膩 akoranga o ng膩 tauira i 膿nei tohu k膩ore i h膩ngai ki ng膩 Kura Kaupapa M膩ori. Me whai w膩hi ki ng膩 tohu nei ko ng膩 m膩tauranga me ng膩 wheako o ng膩 kaiako Kura, me te m膩t膩pono o Te Aho Matua ka wh膩ia e r膩tau 鈥 n膩 t膿nei i mahi tahi a Ahorangi Tomlins-Jahnke me Te R奴nanga Nui o ng膩 Kura Kaupapa M膩ori ki te whakawhanake, ki te waihanga ng膩tahi me te whakaako i te kaupapa.
"K膩ore m膩tau i hiahia i t膿tahi kape M膩ori o te kaupapa whakaako kaiako auraki 鈥 i te waihanga m膩tau i t膿tahi mea hou, t膿tahi mea whakatipu, 膩, me whai w膩hi ko ng膩 k膩mura o te p奴naha Kura Kaupapa M膩ori."
Hei te tau 2022, ka whai a Ahorangi Tomlins-Jahnke i te karahipi Fullbright ki Amerika. Ka rangahau ia i ng膩 whakautu a ng膩 whare w膩nanga ki ng膩 wawata o ng膩 hapori iwi-taketake n艒 Amerika, ka whai w膩hi tonu 艒na p奴kenga m膩tauranga ki te 膩ki i ng膩 panonitanga m艒 ng膩 iwi-taketake.
Professor Huia Tomlins-Jahnke came to Massey in 1991, to finish her Bachelor degree in Education. When she decided she was here to stay, she asked herself a question:
"If I鈥檓 going to work in tertiary education, how do I make that count for my own people?"
Her first career, as a primary school teacher in south Auckland, had given her plenty of opportunities to see where education wasn鈥檛 working for M膩ori and Pacific children 鈥 and it had also suggested part of the answer:
"I鈥檇 been trained to believe that we teachers were the font of all knowledge and the children we taught were receptacles. But that notion fell apart when I started teaching in South Auckland, and met children who introduced me to their world of Polynesia and the islands of the Pacific, children who could do things from their homelands that I had no skills to do. And what鈥檚 more, they were bilingual. I was a monoglot.
These children and their wh膩nau had a profound impact on me and shaped my philosophy of teaching and learning 鈥 they taught me to understand the value of the knowledge that children and their families bring to education and schooling."
This philosophy has underpinned Professor Tomlins-Jahnke鈥檚 academic career in education. She became Associate Professor of M膩ori and Indigenous Education in 2006, and Head of Te Uru M膩raurau, the School of M膩ori and Multicultural Education, in 2011. She has researched widely, on subjects from M膩ori education to intra-wh膩nau communication, to mana w膩hine [M膩ori women鈥檚 discourses] and hapu and iwi development.
Professor Tomlins-Jahnke has drawn on the insights of this research to create innovative courses and qualifications for Massey鈥檚 students. In 1999, finding that the Western research methods she had been trained in couldn鈥檛 accommodate the questions she wanted to ask about Maori people and their communities, she developed the country鈥檚 first undergraduate and postgraduate courses in M膩ori research methods.
"The Western model of research trains you to keep a distance from your subject, to maintain objectivity. A lot of my research into tribal and hapu development, for example, was considered a conflict of interest, and there was an assumption that I wouldn鈥檛 bring an objective view to my research and analysis.
But for M膩ori, the tikanga, or ethicality of researching wh膩nau, iwi and hapu is different 鈥 it鈥檚 about access, knowing the socio-political context so you can apply an authentic analysis and critique through a Maori lens. I thought it was important that Maori students in particular should be trained in these methods."
More recently, she has led the development of two teacher training programmes with transformative kaupapa M膩ori aspirations at their core. Te Aho T膩tairangi and Te Aho Paerewa prepare students for careers as teachers in the Kura Kaupapa M膩ori system of education.
The idea of co-constructing the programmes came to Professor Tomlins-Jahnke when a group of Kura headteachers told her that they had to retrain all the teachers who came to them from colleges of education 鈥 what students learned on their degrees wasn鈥檛 relevant in the M膩ori-medium sector.
The new qualifications needed to incorporate the knowledge and experience of Kura educators and the Te Aho Matua philosophy they embraced 鈥 so Professor Tomlins-Jahnke partnered with Te Runanga Nui o ng膩 Kura Kaupapa M膩ori to develop, co-construct and teach the programmes.
"We didn鈥檛 want a M膩ori-language version of a mainstream teacher training programme 鈥 we were creating something new, something transformative and we needed the architects of the kura kaupapa M膩ori system involved."
In 2022, Professor Tomlins-Jahnke will take up a Fulbright scholarship in the United States. Studying how universities respond to the aspirations of Native American communities, she鈥檒l continue to make her scholarly expertise count in driving transformative change for indigenous people.
Read Professor Huia Tomlins-Jahnke's academic profile
Professor Huia Tomlins-Jahnke
Ng膩ti Kahungunu, Ng膩ti Toa Rangatira, Ng膩i Tahu, Ng膩ti Hine
PhD, MEd, BEd
Professor of M膩ori and Indigenous Education, Te Uru M膩raurau School of M膩ori and Multicultural Education, Te P奴tahi-a-Toi, Manawat奴 campus