How we teach is as important as what we teach. If we can engage, excite and inspire our students, we can teach them; if they are not inspired and engaged, teaching fails.

The values introduced to you in the University Code of Conduct can also be used to guide your teaching: manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, kotahitanga, kaitiakitanga. To these, we add these concepts: rangatiratanga, ako, and tūakana/teina.

Go through the slides below by clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the slides. Each slide has information on how these values and concepts can be used in your teaching to create a supportive, safe and engaging learning environment for all participants. You will notice that aspects and practices of each overlap and build upon one another naturally - for example, in demonstrating manaakitanga (care, respect) for your students, you open the opportunity for the development of whanaungatanga (relationships).

Because of the range of roles tutors have, not all suggestions will be suitable or relevant for your teaching context, e.g. it can be difficult to do more in-depth introductions with larger classes and limited time. Your course coordinator will likely set out expectations of teaching to ensure consistency across different classes - if there's something new you'd like to implement, chat with your course coordinator and teaching team.

Slides: Adapted for the GTA/TA context for the Faculty of Engineering from values and concepts in Ngā Hau e Whā o Tāwhirimātea: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning for the Tertiary Sector, Manuel's (2010) What is tika when teaching small groups in a university setting in Aotearoa New Zealand?, the University of Auckland's Code of Conduct, and definitions from Te Kete Ipurangi and Te Aka: Māori Dictionary.

Activity: Familiarise yourself with te ao Māori values and practices in teaching

Estimated time: 5 min

Familiarise yourself with te ao Māori values and practices introduced here by practicing their pronunciation and testing your recall of their meaning.

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