Comments I have received so far –
…….even if not compulsory. 2023-26 is viewed as a short pause.
They need their heads read! What do they think this will do for their international ranking, or the attractiveness of the university to the parents of Asian kids wondering where to send them for higher education! Absolutely bonkers!
Treaty and decolonisation virtue signalling is still overwhelming the rational and ideologically neutral academic environment that some in the university system are trying to preserve. It is very nearly a lost cause
Ambitious new plan for te reo Māori at University
AI tools, a refreshed language app and a new dictionary are all helping shape the next chapter of te reo Māori revitalisation at the University of Auckland.
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland has launched a bold new strategy to enhance the use of te reo Māori across the institution and help shape the language’s future.
He Makau Mauroa is the University’s Te Reo Māori Strategy for 2026–2030, building on the success of its inaugural language plan that ran from 2020 to 2025. It’s a renewed commitment to normalising te reo Māori across teaching, research and campus life.
The University’s first language plan saw thousands of staff and students engage in te reo Māori learning opportunities, strengthening confidence and supporting both Māori and non-Māori researchers to embed the language more frequently across teaching, research and everyday university life.
The next phase aims to go further – expanding Māori-medium education, strengthening partnerships with Māori language communities, and supporting new research that advances language revitalisation.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori Professor Te Kawehau Hoskins (Ngāti Hau, Ngāpuhi) says the strategy reflects the central role language plays in Māori identity.
“Ko te reo te manawapou o te tuakiri Māori – the language is the lifeblood that fosters Māori identity.”
Kaiarataki Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori Michael Steedman (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Te Uri o Hau) says the plan reflects a growing commitment across the University to actively support the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
“We gave the next phase of the plan the name He Makau Mauroa, meaning ‘a closely held friend’. It reflects the enduring relationship people have built with te reo Māori and the important role the language plays in their lives,” he says.
“That vision continues the ethos of the first plan: ‘Te taonga nō tuawhakarere, he taonga mō āpōpō’ – a treasure from ancient times and for tomorrow.”
Among the initiatives outlined in the strategy are new opportunities for staff and students to learn and use te reo Māori, including the development of courses taught in te reo Māori and expanded pathways for students to submit coursework and postgraduate research in te reo Māori.
The plan also focuses on strengthening relationships with iwi, hapū and Māori language experts, recognising that revitalisation efforts must remain grounded in the communities who carry the language.
Across campus, the strategy aims to further normalise the everyday presence of te reo Māori through bilingual signage, digital platforms and dedicated language spaces.
One example is ReoSpace, a dedicated area within Te Herenga Mātauranga Whānui, the University’s General Library. It was introduced in 2024 to create a safe environment where people can speak and practise te reo Māori at all levels.
The University’s own Te Kūaha app supports everyday use of the language and is a digital resource that helps staff and students engage in te reo Māori in everyday university life. The app includes help with creating a pepeha, for people from all cultures, and enables users to participate confidently in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.
Alongside these initiatives, researchers at the University are exploring how technology can support the next phase of language revitalisation.
Current projects include the development of AI-powered pronunciation tools that allow learners to practise te reo Māori on the go, as well as advanced speech technology that recognises pronunciation mistakes.
Researchers are also working on initiatives that strengthen the language’s future within te ao Māori. At the James Henare Research Centre, a project is underway to launch the Te Tai Tokerau Dictionary, highlighting the dialect of the north. Other work is examining Māori data sovereignty, including the protection of story sovereignty and te reo sovereignty in digital environments.
Together, these initiatives highlight how mātauranga Māori and emerging technologies can work together to support the future of the language.
Steedman says combining mātauranga Māori with emerging technology will play an important role in the next chapter of language revitalisation.
“Te reo Māori has always evolved with the people who speak it. The work happening here shows how traditional knowledge and new technologies can work together to strengthen the future of the language.”
Goals for 2026–2030
Over the next five years, the University will:
Expand teaching and learning opportunities
Develop courses, resources and academic pathways that allow staff and students to learn, teach and submit academic work in te reo Māori across multiple disciplines.
Strengthen Māori language communities and partnerships
Work alongside iwi, hapū and mātanga reo to support language revitalisation and create immersion environments for Māori-speaking students.
Normalise te reo Māori across campus life
Increase bilingual signage, expand the presence of te reo Māori across digital platforms and branding, and create spaces where the language can be used every day.
Elevate the value of te reo Māori
Recognise language capability within recruitment and professional development frameworks and celebrate Māori language leadership among staff and students.
Advance Māori language research and innovation
Develop research networks, support projects such as the Te Tai Tokerau dictionary, build AI tools for language learning and implement Māori data sovereignty practices.
Implementation of the strategy will be overseen by the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori, with annual reporting and monitoring to track progress across the University.
Pee Kay writes he is from a generation where common sense, standards, integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes. This article was first published HERE
22 comments:
Showcasing Maori identity - or any cultural identity - is admirable . But why must this dominate an entire university? Because the Maori identity - unlike others - intends to dominate Aotearoa ( ex-NZ) politically by 2040 - as per the He Puapua agenda.
Though not" mandatory, this action will be pervasive . Certainly part of the propaganda campaign for take-over = never authorized by NZ citizens.
How can people be so stupid?
My kids will not be attending university in NZ - this country has utterly failed to convince me that my part kiwi kids have any future here beyond high school- and even that we’re taking the private option to minimise their exposures to the overt grip the special people have over education of the country’s kids.
This country has been destroyed by the special people and the bureaucracy that is too stupid and ignorant of the history and too afraid of being sidelined to push back.
Now the special people run the asylum….and we shall see How far this can fall.
I think it’s great. NZ universities have nothing to recommend them.
They swapped socialist indoctrination for education years ago.
They might as well leverage Te Reo as a unique selling point just like they do with Maori culture in the tourism industry.
Auckland University is hell bent upon destroying its ranking in the academic world via adopting woke of the highest order. ‘Back to the future’ must be its new motto?
Meanwhile, any student wishing to excel will cross the Tasman Sea and further afield for their future.
Aotearoa, the Stone Age awaits you.
What can one say.
March through the institutions right in our face.
Defund or sack and start again.
Cut their funding. They’re wasting our money. Our taxes shouldn’t support the perversion of what has been our premier university into an instrument of indoctrination.
Could have sworn the purpose of a University was to use the individual intellectual talent of its staff and students to reveal new truths about the world. That's the antithesis of a collective body that seeks only to promote world-views supported by faith. They are called seminaries or madrasas if you are that way inclined, and while you might find a residual School of Divinity lurking in the halls of academia, by and large the University system has rid itself of faith based activity. Yet here we are in New Zealand trying to turn back the clock, to the bad old days. It's not even about academic freedom. Its about the white-anting of a process that Maori had no part in creating and was a gift of colonisation many Maori activists are now squandering. A stark warning how the dead hand of the collective can suppress individual thinking in the search for truth.
Do none of these earnest people consult the linguists on the academic staff, or have said linguists all been made redundant?
The ineluctable rules of language - acquisition and retention - apply to Maori, just as to all other languages. For survival, all languages need a critical mass of native speakers, that is, people who have it as their first and only language for the first few years of their lives, for instance until they start school. If Maori wish their children to be native speakers, they themselves must put in the work: speaking only Maori to their babies and small children, surrounding them with a Maori language-only environment. The rest of us can't help, no matter how keen we may be to do so. Maori is a second language for us.
The other major issue with any language is utility. Can speakers use the language in daily life, not just in a university or school? If they can't, there's no point in learning it.
The younger we are when we learn a language, the more likely we are to become fluent. The evidence worldwide says that - with a few exceptions - native-like fluency won't be acquired by people older than their early 20s. People learning another language in their teens will usually retain an accent from their native language. I have seen this among friends and acquaintances.
I'd add that if the Maori language has reached the stage of needing "revitalisation", it's lost. It might take a while to go extinct, but it will eventually.
I agree with what Auckland University is doing to promote New Zealand’s unique culture. Our students are capable and sought after globally due to their skills, adaptability, resilience, and ability to get things done. Adding Te Reo to the mix makes them even better. New Zealand’s culture is celebrated internationally and we are what other countries aspire to - anyone who has spent time in Australia, Canada or the UK knows this.
Esperanto died as a created language.
Te reo maori will only be a language between others who have been pressured into learning it and it's made up words in the spot.
There are 8 billion people in the world that communicate in English. There are only a few thousand people in NZ who will ever communicate amongst themselves in te reo to be virtuous.
Again suckered by academic maori and intimidated staff.
PS : could be fixed by Luxon if he stopped appeasing maori and started listening to and appeasing the ordinary people in the street. Gone by Christmas.
To Anon 11.27 AM,
I have yet to meet one Australian, Canadian or person from UK who admires the drift of NZ into oblivion. They must look at the 600,000 NZers living in Australia and thank their lucky stars they do not suffer from delusions. What strange company you must keep!
Te Reo is undergoing a revival. People want to know their heritage and live their culture and Te Reo is a simple obvious way to do that. Auckland University is simply moving with the times. There is no detriment here.
There has been some 'indigenisation' of university programmes in Aus and Canada e.g. weaving indigenous 'perspectives' into health science courses in Aus and making students take an 'indigenous focus' course in Canada. We're not the only ones who have had this bullshit foisted upon us.
Nazi Germany had a unique culture Anon 11.27. And German Universities undoubtedly promoted it. Right up until it wasn't.
"I agree with what Auckland University is doing to promote New Zealand’s unique culture."
Not on the taxpayer's dime, thanks. If the iwi want to pay for this sort of thing, they should look at the literature regarding language learning and so on, and institute home-based programmes, which have a slightly higher chance of success. But that won't happen, of course.
I've read the above newsletter. It looks to me as if the university expects everyone - faculty and students, Maori or not, overseas students or not - to jump into this, boots and all. But why should anyone do so who isn't Maori? It isn't our language or culture, after all.
"Te Reo is undergoing a revival."
Ha! I suspect that you haven't been around for as long as I have. In the 1970s, when I was a young adult, I was taught the Maori language (as it was then known) by a native speaker. There were still quite a few such people about at that time. Some years later, I remember the establishment of the kohanga reo system, designed to rescue the language, which was at that time beginning to die out. It was the wrong approach, of course: since then, the language has fallen off a cliff. Any rescue of it, and of the culture, must happen in Maori homes, and done by Maori themselves. I'd add that my experience back then was that many Maori weren't necessarily overjoyed at the notion of Pakeha learning their language. My newfound ability wasn't universally welcomed.
"People want to know their heritage and live their culture."
Not my culture or heritage, though. If Maori want to do this, they shouldn't expect taxpayers to stump up for it. Nor should they be expecting it to happen in the universities. The right and proper place is in the Maori home, where it belongs.
To Anon 1:33. No detriment? But everything absolutely everything has tradeoffs.
D’Esterre: you say “since then, the language has fallen off a cliff”. Then why are people using it in regular business communication, government messaging, greetings between friends, and TV and radio broadcasts in multiple channels? Why are more Maori words finding their way into regular conversation among white and brown people than ever before? There appears to be no basis for your claim.
It is obvious guy was talking more about the younger generation coming up and realising they have an identity, and they want to connect to it and celebrate it. New Zealand has a unique cultural identity and it must be preserved.
Answer to your first question, Anon 611, is "Because they are forced to" in most of the instances cited.
Barend, again, an assertion made without a basis. Spend time with some of these younger people and you’ll quickly get a sense of where they are at. As the saying goes: “the kids are alright”!
Anon 635, I was referring to the "government messaging ... and TV and radio broadcasts" and you can probably throw "business communication" in there as well as no business wants to be blacklisted for being 'racist'.
Anon@6.11pm: "Then why are people using it in regular business communication..."
As Barend says above, people are being forced into this, especially in the public service, where I can assure you, it's a very bad career move to try and resist it. I know this because of other people's experiences, about which they've talked. I'd add that sprinkling Maori words into English language, using greetings and the like, doesn't demonstrate competence in Maori. Competence means running one's daily life in the language, as we all do with English here. The number of people who could do this in Maori is vanishingly small, if there are any left at all.
When I said that the Maori language has fallen off a cliff, that's exactly what's happened, with regard to native speakers. As I pointed out above, native speakers are critical to the survival of any language. The kohanga reo system was set up in an attempt to maintain the numbers of native speakers. But it was the wrong approach. By the time children enter the system, they're already native speakers of English, because that's the first language of Maori people. The best anyone can expect is that they'll be bilingual. And bilingualism isn't enough to save a critically endangered language. Language preservation entails home-based programmes: that's the only way. Success isn't guaranteed, but teaching the language in schools and universities, and forcing unwilling non-Maori to learn a few words or songs, is a waste of time and money. And it erodes such goodwill as remains among non-Maori.
I doesn't matter how many non-Maori learn a few words of Maori. Even were they to acquire fluency, they'd still be second language speakers, and that's not what Maori needs. It needs native speakers, and that's a job only Maori people can do.
And it's important to remember that fluent acquisition of a language is the preserve of the young. Older people mostly cannot do this, older Maori included. It's just the nature of language acquisition. This isn't my opinion: it's the biology of language. Those ineluctable rules, to which I referred earlier.
The Cornish language has been in decline for centuries but is undergoing a small revival fuelled by Cornish people and those with a Cornish background wanting to learn it. There is no suggestion it be imposed on others in England. The Welsh and Scottish Gaelic languages are also on the up but are not imposed on people living in other parts of the UK. The Maori language revival needs to be driven by people of Maori ancestry wanting to learn it. They do have the opportunity. Three of my part-Maori relatives are fluent in it by choice. Imposing it on people is a negative. Far better to say , ''Here are courses and the chance to learn Maori, how about joining us?'' Rather than compulsion.
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