– focussed on responding to community needs through marae based programmes, and community education.
The goal for the School of Iwi Development is to facilitate “te whakapakaritanga me te hiki i te mātauranga o te iwi Māori i roto o Aotearoa. ”There are primarily two roles of Iwi Development; to bring hapū members together to learn about themselves; and to staircase into higher learning.
As the School’s students are predominately second chance learners, we understand the need to provide support mechanisms that meet their needs. For example, where students do not meet the eligibility criteria for a particular programme, the School of Iwi Development will enable you to find a pathway that allows you to build that eligibility. Similarly, the Community Education (Com-Ed) programmes have established a clear, achievable staircased pathway for students. Because it is run at the Marae, you have available members of iwi, whānau and Marae to assist you. The programme is designed to enable you to progress on to the next level (Te Pouhono) taking manageable steps to gain confidence as a learner. The intention is that by the time you reach degree level programmes, you have the skills and confidence to engage in higher levels of study.
An exciting development in student progression in 2009 was the rollout of the Bachelor of Mātauranga Māori by the School through the Marae based network. Over the coming years, the plan is to bring the degree to more and more Marae across Aotearoa.
If your Marae is interested in the range of programmes we offer, please contact the School of Iwi Development.