Staff members from Holy Cross School, Miramar, and Wellington Catholic Education Centre were among the many graduates of the Mauri Ora Programme offered through the Porirua campus of Te Wananga o Aotearoa.
After finding out about the distance learning programme through a WCEC primary teachers in-service day on Māori spirituality facilitated by Plimmerton parishioner Shirley Kelland, Veronica Williams, a long time volunteer at WCEC, encouraged staff members and other friends to take up the opportunity for some professional development, too.
It is thanks to Veronica’s gentle but persistent efforts to ensure work was completed on time and that suitable meetings were arranged with kaitiaki (tutors) Kahu Hotere and Ivy-Lee Topia that many were able to graduate.
One of the attractive features of the programme is that tutors visit students at home or work, individually or in groups.
The free one-year programme focuses on three main areas: customs and protocol, Aotearoa NZ key historical events, and Māori world view perspectives. The programme, packaged in four kete (modules), is designed to give a comprehensive introduction, overview and meaning to the cultural, physical, psychological and spiritual worlds of Māori. Each kete which takes about three months to work through, contains wonderful resources: student workbooks, readers, DVDs, CDs and tapes. While it is not a Te Reo Māori programme, Māori words, phrases and writings are commonly used throughout the resource material. A dictionary is supplied in Kete One.
Among those currently enrolled in the Mauri Ora Programme are teachers from St Claudine Thevenet’s School, Wainuiomata, and St Brigid’s, Johnsonville. Other schools and Welcom readers interested in taking part in this very user-friendly and enriching course may contact Mauri Ora at MO1 Ltd on 0800 37 37 37.