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Distinguished Professor Graham Smith 

About Distinguished Professor Smith:

Distinguished Professor Smith is an internationally renowned and prominent Māori educationalist who has been at the forefront of the alternative Māori initiatives in the education field and beyond.  His academic background is within the disciplines of Education, Social Anthropology and Cultural and Policy Studies, with his recent academic work centring upon developing theoretically informed transformative strategies related to intervening in Māori cultural, political, social, educational and economic crises.  He is involved in the development of Tribal Universities and is a retired Chairperson of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi: indigenous-university Council.  In his former position as Pro Vice Chancellor (Māori), he was responsible for developing a Māori University structure within the University of Auckland.

Professor Smith’s earlier training is in Social Anthropology and he completed a MA (Hons) dissertation on ‘Māori Rituals of Encounter’.  He was the first teacher of a Māori immersion Kura Kaupapa Māori school, (Māori philosophy and principles based School), which has grown from a single school in 1988 to over seventy-five publicly funded schools in 1999.  His theoretical leadership has informed the emergence of Māori Education Studies as a distinct entity within the Tertiary Sector in particular New Zealand Universities. This work has developed a wide-ranging academic discussion centred on Kaupapa Māori Theory, Critical Theory and Transformative Praxis.

Professor Smith has made significant contributions to the political, social, economic and cultural advancement of indigenous Māori communities.  He has also worked extensively with other Indigenous/ First Nation’s peoples across the world, including , , mainland, , , and the Pacific nations.  He is a regular contributor to national forums on indigenous issues and has also been an authoritative voice to international forums on indigenous education issues.  Professor Smith has been an active contributor to the critical debate on ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ both in New Zealand and abroad and maintains a strong influence in the Māori language revitalization movement. His other specialist interest is in institutional transformations in order to deliver more effectively to and for the interests of indigenous students, Faculty and communities.

Professor Smith is one the most influential educators in today.  He has published widely and is in demand as a commentator on national and international indigenous matters. He is of Ngati Apa, Ngati Kahungunu, Kai Tahu and Ngati Porou tribal descent and is the current CEO/ Vice Chancellor of Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi: indigenous-university. 

Teaching Responsibilities:

•  IND 802 Critical Theories in Indigenous Studies (co-taught with Cheryl Stephens).
• MAO 130 - Wānanga Studies (Taught 2010) -(co-taught with Prof. Johnston, Prof. Doherty, Dr. Janette Hamilton-Pearce) - This core programme is designed to provide students with an introduction to the learning context of the Wānanga. While this course will introduce students to a range of disciplinary approaches the particular emphasis of this section taught by Professor Smith will focus on Critical Theory and Kaupapa Maori approaches.
• IND 402 – Selected Topics in Indigenous Studies (Taught 2010) - (co-taught with Cheryl Stephens) - This paper is designed to develop students’ understanding and application of critical theory and critical literacy tools which promote indigenous people’s aspirations to self determination, to examine literature on a range of issues of significance to indigenous peoples and to develop skills in research and analysis.

Current Research, Projects or Papers:

• Māori Economic Development (MED) Te Pae Tawhiti -  
• He Kākano: Schools Leadership Project - He Kākano is a culturally responsive professional development programme for leaders in 100 area and secondary schools. Implementing He Kākano will build relational and pedagogical leadership capability that will enable schools and teachers to build educational success for and with Māori learners.
• Whakawhanaungatanga hei oranga mo te iwi Maori – Maori Social Capital Development
  The aim of this project is to provide a way of measuring the value and influence of collectivity on sustainable Māori economic growth and the role it plays as a key component of building Māori social capital.  A clearer understanding of the potential for more meaningful interventions based on the concepts of whānau, whanaungatanga (collectivity), and aroha (voluntarism), as pertains to the growth and development of Māori social capital will be a key outcome from this project.  A framework will be developed to measure how collectivity builds capacity towards economic development and sustainability which will enhance the intervention capacity and policy directions for all agencies.