At Awanuiarangi, we measure the success of our programs by what our students have to say about us. Here's a sample of what students are saying about the courses offered at Awanuiarangi and their experience while studying here, in our unique environment.
Want to hear more? Speak to an Advisor who will be happy to give you all the information that you need to study here at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Tame Rurehe Ngā Pōtiki, Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa
Master of Māori Studies Dissertation Student
I grew up in Te Urewera. I am fluent in Te Reo, but there were things I felt I needed to know – Tikanga Māori and history.
Awanuiārangi is a great place to learn. You have all the resources, and a lot of help from your tutors, and from Awhi Tauira Student Support for things like studying and computer skills. The Wānanga brings all these experts and lecturers to us. For example, we had a guest lecturer from Hawaii. I’ve enjoyed studying the history – migration and pre-migration, the Treaty, Government policies.
The way we learn is enjoyable. We have classes and noho marae. The interaction between students – living and learning together – is one of the best parts of the programme. They’re from all over the place. It’s good to get to know their language because not all Māori language is the same. You can see people’s confidence grow, and you learn a lot just by talking and getting to know each other.
Teena Taranaki Tainui, Ngāpuhi
Te Ōhanga Mataora Paetahi Bachelor of Health Sciences Māori (Nursing) 3rd-year student
It was hard starting tertiary study in my late 30s. I’ve got a family, and at first it was a struggle getting the right mindset for studying. But there’s a lot of support. We study in an environment based on tikanga, on tūturu Māori. The sciences and nursing skills are a priority of course, and it’s also taught me a lot about myself as a Māori, and about our people.
We have good tutors and qualified medical staff who are important assets to the programme. It’s important to have training that is grounded in kaupapa Māori because it’s our people who are really sick – but our people aren’t out there nursing them. I think these factors are equally important for non-Māori nurses. Every day I’m out as a student nurse in the community, I see nurses who have no idea how to treat Māori or other ethnic groups except their own. This programme gives us the tools and models to be able to work with anybody.
Tahawai Pewhairangi Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāti Porou
Te Tōhu Ako Tāwhiti Bachelor of Mātauranga Māori 3rd-year Student
We have noho marae four times a year. For the rest of the year, we study independently. One paper is specific to our waterways and boundaries; another is based on land laws and treaty claims; and others are about te ao Māori, tikanga, ngā Atua. We are asked to go back to our marae and find out about these subjects from iwi and hapū members.
I find it really easy, as most of the information is already known by my whānau. I just have to go and talk to mum, talk to nan, or go to other kaumatua.
In terms of tikanga Māori and te ao Māori, I already live it, I already breathe it – it’s just that a light has been switched on. When I look at these papers, I think: I know that, my nan has always done that – but now I know why. I have the knowledge about why these things happen.
Chey Milne Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa, NgĀ Puhi, Ngai Tahu
Ngā Mana Whakairo a Toi Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts 2nd-year student
I enrolled with a group of members from the kapa haka our whānau is involved in up north. Kapa haka is a way of life for us, so this degree in Māori Performing Arts just made sense. It’s always good to get extra qualifications. You’re silly if you pass up the opportunity to raise your level of education, especially when it’s a course as awesome as this one.
You have a bit of freedom to study in a way that suits you. Our roopu had a few options. The course is based on the tikanga and philosophies of our roopu. It requires us to investigate, research and analyse our own roopu’s waiata and haka. We get together in Northland for wānanga, but because I work part-time in Auckland, I’m allowed to provide the practical requirements and some of the evidence of knowledge by video.
Jacqueline Kumeroa Ngāti Pukeko, Tūhoe, Te AtiHaunui ā Pāpārangi
Te Tohu Toi Tangata Bachelor of Humanities 2nd-year student
I’m double-majoring in Art and Visual Culture, and Multimedia Graphic Design. I hadn’t been at school for 10 years, but I absolutely Love it (with a capital L).
I had been doing short courses for some years in areas such as technology and business administration. To get the qualifications I needed for a secure job, I realised I had to aim higher. That’s when I decided to enrol at Awanuiārangi.
I wouldn’t have gone any other place. It’s local, it’s Māori, it’s whānau-based. A kaupapa Māori framework underpins everything. It felt right. You’re not a number on a seat, you’re whānau. There’s more one-on-one time with the tutor: you’re not in a lecture theatre with 300 other students, you’re on a first-name basis. We’ve been taught by professors and doctors, people who’ve been specialising in their field for years, getting first-hand knowledge and having privileged access to all these high-calibre lecturers.
Jonnie Black Ngā Puhi
Te Tohu Paetahi Ako Bachelor of Education – Teaching 1st-year student
I started at university but the study wasn’t underpinned by kaupapa Māori. Then I found Awanuiārangi. The environment just felt right, like whānau. I can stand up and whaikōrero, but most of what I know I learnt at Awanuiārangi. The kaiako are in and out of te reo and that constant exposure helps you acquire the language. Day-to-day protocol and routine, like karakia, waiata, whakatau and pōwhiri, means you absorb a lot of the tikanga. You feel more confident when you’re standing up, and you’re not shy to make mistakes because you know that the kaiako will help you improve.
This course is challenging but your kaiako is always there to help you. I’ve just finished my first practicum – four weeks at my old primary school, and the kids, parents and staff responded well.
I’m looking at secondary school teaching. Seeing all the negative publicity about Māori this and Māori that triggered something in me. I started thinking about how to help Māori. I want to make sure Māori get the best possible education so they can move up in life to support themselves and their whānau.
Jaime Tutbury Whakatōhea
Te Tohu Paetahi Ako Bachelor of Education – Teaching 1st-year student
I was brought up in Dunedin. I studied Māori by correspondence. It’s a terrible way to learn a language! So the Māori context of this programme is important for me, and for my teaching.
I’d like my children to have that tāonga. We need to have the reo and the tikanga there all the time for everybody – not just for those who go out of their way to find it.
There’s a lot of awhi shown here, a lot of care. At Awanuiārangi, they really want students to excel. I started studying at university, but it’s very impersonal – here, the lecturers actually want to be there to help you. We’re taught in a whānau environment and no door is closed to us. They don’t have to operate that way but they choose to. Because of that, we students operate that way ourselves. That’s the culture Awanuiārangi has developed, and we love it. We just love our class.
Reegan Tamihana-Simich Ngāti Kahungunu
Te Aka ki te Wānanga Introduction to Wānanga Studies Student
Everyone’s very supportive. The teachers help me and the students do as well, so I’ve been flying through it. It’s my first time in a Māori environment and there’s quite a difference to mainstream study. I find this much easier because of all the support and the time tutors have for me. They get in and help you, and explain if you’re lost.
Before doing this course, I didn’t really have a purpose. It’s given me a bit of discipline. I’ve had to focus my mind and find a path to go down instead of sitting around wondering what I should be doing.
I’m surprised I’m enjoying myself so much, being in class and doing the work. I didn’t enjoy school at all. It comes down to the people. The teachers are way more friendly and accessible. The work is easier to understand – the whole experience is better.
Heremia Teepu Tūhoe
National Certificate in Building, Construction and Allied Trades Skills Student
I’d like to work in the building trades but first you need the Certificate to show you’ve got the skills. In this course I’m learning and getting hands-on experience. It should help me get a job. I’m working with all the different tools, and picking up knowledge about all the trades.
The tutor makes a difference. He shows us what to do and we follow his example. So we learn the skills first before we do the written work. That makes learning easy, so that when you come to do the theory, it makes sense.
We learn on real jobs. We’ve concreted a footpath, put down a concrete floor for a garage, and spent a couple of weeks fencing a marae.
It’s been good working with the other students on the course. I was quiet in the group at first, but I got on with the others quite quickly.