Beyond the Poi and Poster: Moving from Symbolic Compliance to Authentic Transformation | Ki tua o te Poi me te Pānui Whakaahua: Mai i te tirohanga aunoa ki te ngākau whakapono

Rotorua - Saturday 23 May 2026 - 10am - 1pm

This PLD supports early childhood centres to move beyond symbolic cultural practices toward authentic, meaningful integration of te ao Māori. It introduces the Poua te Aroha Framework, which focuses on three key areas: integrating mātauranga Māori into everyday teaching, creating culturally responsive environments that affirm identity and belonging, and providing culturally appropriate, mana-enhancing support for tamariki and whānau Māori.

Through practical reflection and guided evaluation, participants will assess their current practice, identify areas for growth, and develop clear SMART goals to strengthen Tiriti-honouring, culturally sustaining practice within their centre

The target audience for this PLD is kaiako, leaders, and governance teams within early childhood education centres who are seeking to strengthen their bicultural practice in Tiriti-honouring ways. It is particularly relevant for services wanting to move beyond surface-level gestures of compliance and build authentic partnerships with tamariki, whānau, and mana whenua.

This PLD is also suitable for professional leaders, kaiako in training, and centre managers who hold responsibility for curriculum design, assessment practices, and centre-wide policy development.

Learning Goals:

• To support ECE centres to move beyond symbolic compliance toward authentic transformation in bicultural practice.
• To embed mātauranga Māori authentically in curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy.
• To create culturally responsive environments where tamariki Māori identity, wairua, and belonging are nurtured.
• To strengthen culturally appropriate systems of support for kaiako, tamariki, and whānau, grounded in kaupapa Māori values and Tiriti-honouring practice.
• To foster collective commitment by positioning kaiako, leaders, whānau, and mana whenua as partners in transformation

Learning Objectives:

• Analyse their centre’s current practice using the Poua te Aroha Framework (Pou Mātauranga, Pou Taiao, Pou Tautoko).
• Map curriculum, environmental, and support practices along the Symbolic → Emerging → Authentic continuum.
• Critically examine Tangata Whenuatanga by identifying where practice is representational versus relational, and redesign one practice to reflect authentic, whenua-based accountability.
• Evaluate support systems through a Pou Tautoko lens, identifying mana-enhancing and mana-diminishing approaches grounded in kaupapa Māori principles.
• Use the Mapping Tool to identify strengths, gaps, and priorities across the three pou.
• Develop a focused, Tiriti-honouring SMART goal to strengthen one identified pou and commit to practical next steps.

Presenter

Rahiri Ngapuhi, Regional Education Leader | Kaiārahi Mātauranga ā Rohe Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, Te Rito Maioha

Rahiri is responsible for supporting the Rotorua takiwā ako and ensuring that pastoral care for tauira is grounded in manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and kotahitanga. He also lectures in MMT1 (Mātauranga Māori) and TPR3/PRAC3 (Professional Practice), weaving kaupapa Māori values through theory and practice.

Rahiri began his teaching career in 2015 at an iwi-run bilingual ECE centre led by life member Maureen Te Wehioterangi Jehly, an experience that inspired his ongoing commitment to Māori-led education. An alumnus of Te Rito Maioha, he holds a Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) and a Master of Education, with research focused on how mātauranga Māori is experienced by tangata whenua within English-medium Initial Teacher Education. Raised by strong wāhine Māori who fought for whenua, reo, mātauranga, and tino rangatiratanga, Rahiri’s upbringing in advocacy and activism continues to shape his worldview, research interests, and teaching practice. His passion lies in inspiring tauira to strengthen their connections to te reo, identity, and culture, and to honour Māori ways of knowing, being, and doing in their teaching journeys

Presenter

Aria Macredie, Lecturer | Kaiako, Te Rito Maioha

Aria teaches across Mātauranga Māori 1 and Te Hā o te Kaiako as well as TPR1/PRAC1 (Professional Practice). Her role centres on supporting tauira in their studies while guiding them to understand their obligations as Tiriti-based kaiako and the influence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi on bicultural curriculum and practice. An alumni of Te Rito Maioha, Aria completed her Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) in 2020 and is currently undertaking a Master of Education.

She began her teaching career in 2017 at a local Enviro Centre in Rotorua, where she gained experience in weaving localised knowledge, tikanga, and kawa into early learning environments. Born and raised in Rotorua, Aria still resides there with her five tamariki and is deeply passionate about te reo Māori and whakapapa. Alongside her lecturing, she is enrolled in He Kāinga mō te Reo to strengthen her reo, motivated by her daughter’s journey through kōhanga reo. Aria’s teaching interests lie in te ao Māori – language, identity, and culture – and she is committed to creating safe, supportive spaces where kaiako can grow their own cultural capabilities to teach confidently within bicultural frameworks underpinned by Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Whāriki.