Nau mai! Haere Mai! Welcoming the UKPSF into Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

The pōwhiri is a Māori welcoming ritual with an objective to make visitors one
with the host. We adopted this ritual for the UKPSF’s arrival into our Aotearoa
New Zealand university to establish a free and open negotiation to ensure a
culturally relevant and responsive approach, in light of our context as a Treaty
nation, governed under the agreement set between the Crown and Māori,
the indigenous people (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). In this poster, we illustrate how
the pōwhiri protocols mapped the journey which AUT, the UKPSF, and HEA
undertook, from which the inception of Ako Aronui was birthed. Adopting
pōwhiri protocols allowed AUT to determine and lead how we would engage
with the UKPSF in a way that was mutually beneficial.

Full text

Wero
The Challenge
The wero is a challenge set down by the Tāngata Whenua (hosts), Ako
Aronui team at AUT’s Centre for Learning and Teaching (CfLAT), to the
Manuhiri (guests). In this example, our manuhiri are HEA and the UKPSF.
The challenge to HEA is how will HEA support our responsibility to Te
Tiriti o Waitangi, so that the colonising histories of our nation are not
continued?
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Mihi
Manuhiri engaging in negotiations
In this space, the HEA and UKPSF, as Manuhiri:
• supported our contextualisation of the UKPSF by granting
permision to adapt it, on the proviso that we did not
diminish the integrity of the UKPSF;
• provided an international community to discourse and
endeavour to improve learning;
Manuhiri are waewae tapu, meaning caution is required as their
full intentions are unknown by Tāngata Whenua. Through the
mihi process, we became aware of the context and governance
structures and values from which HEA are governed to operate
under, which informed our negotiations.
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Mihi
Tāngata Whenua establishing tikanga (protocol)
The mihi is when negotiations are made. It resides in the
space of Tūmatauenga (Defender of Peace and God of War,)
a space that requires courage, strategic thinking, and clear
communication. Tāngata whenua are required to manaaki, to
care and be hospitable while establishing tikanga.
In this space, we as Tāngata Whenua:
• localised the UKPSF to Aotearoa New Zealand’s Treaty
context by incorporating Māori values and ideals of
learning and teaching;
• embedding values within the UKPSF to form Ako Aronui
established our tikanga;
• establishing tikanga provided a code of practice that
values people’s wellbeing above metric measures.
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The pōwhiri is a Māori welcoming ritual with an objective to make visitors one
with the host. We adopted this ritual for the UKPSF’s arrival into our Aotearoa
New Zealand university to establish a free and open negotiation to ensure a
culturally relevant and responsive approach, in light of our context as a Treaty
nation, governed under the agreement set between the Crown and Māori,
the indigenous people (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). In this poster, we illustrate how
the pōwhiri protocols mapped the journey which AUT, the UKPSF, and HEA
undertook, from which the inception of Ako Aronui was birthed. Adopting
pōwhiri protocols allowed AUT to determine and lead how we would engage
with the UKPSF in a way that was mutually beneficial.
Following the mihi, both parties come together and hongi, pressing their noses together to share the breath of life. Accreditation
was our hongi moment, where agreement had been reached between AUT and HEA, birthing Ako Aronui Pathway to HEA
Fellowship, our accredited programme. This is not the end of the journey nor the kōrero (conversations) between AUT and
HEA, rather the start of a journey side by side entering the Wharenui and joining the wānanga space with a common focus.
Hongi
To share the breath of life
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Nau mai! Haere Mai!
Welcoming the UKPSF into Auckland University of Technology
Karanga
The Call
Karanga activates the weaving of people, spirit and place. The karanga to HEA to support us
to develop Ako Aronui was expressed in HEA coming to AUT and to CfLAT, where permission
was requested by the team to change the wording in the UKPSF.
Piki Diamond, Emily Whitehead, Nell Buissink, John Davies, Julia Hallas, Jaye McIsaac, Mark Northover (Auckland University of Technology)
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Within the wharenui, Ako Aronui: Pathway to HEA Fellowship is now in a space of wānanga,
where all the parties are participating in ako (learning and teaching). In this wānanga space,
the Ako Aronui team are continuing to titiro, whakarongo, and nohopuku (look, listen and
observe) so that we continue to learn and manaaki. We are focused on caring
for the people and we want to whakawhanaungatanga (build meaningful
relationships) with our staff so we can kōrero in a way that positively impacts
on teaching practice. While we have 60 staff undertaking the programme this
year, our focus is on them as individuals. We show this
from the very start of the application with “Kō wai au?”
“Who am I?” - an opportunity for our staff to reflect on
who they are and to present this in a way that is authentic
to them. This reflection is a key part of Ako Aronui and is woven throughout the Pathway, this is
shown in the name of the programme. Aronui is one of the three kete (baskets) of knowledge, the
basket of “life’s knowledge” and has a particular focus on reflection and values. We have seen that
this values base, focus on individual’s reflection on their practice, and a holistic
open approach has led to significant engagement both at a grassroots level
AUT’s Values Statement
Tāwhaitia te ara o te tika, te pono me te aroha, kia piki ki te taumata tiketike
Follow the path of integrity, respect, and compassion; scale the heights of achievement.
Wānanga
Spaces of Discovery, Exploration and Creation
and with our senior leadership. We have also
seen a change in language in the University
with an increasing focus on the embodiment
of the University’s values statement.