Te Rangihaeata Hare

Te Tohu Paetahi Ako: Bachelor of Education - Teaching

This degree changed me, both professionally and personally. I was a relief teacher and I wanted to upskill with a teaching degree.

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi had exactly what I was looking for, with everything I needed to achieve the outcome I wanted – an education degree in a Māori setting which prepared me for the real world. I needed the tools, the teaching strategies and the knowledge around HOW to teach our tamariki. Awanuiārangi gave me that. That’s what I required because the intention was to go straight into a classroom after completing my degree … and that’s exactly what happened. I’m now teaching in te reo Māori – my first language – in an immersion kura in Ruatoki, where I was born and bred.

The learning from this degree gave me a boost of confidence and equipped me with the level of professionalism I was looking for. And I changed personally through the process of studying over three years at degree level. For a start, the discipline required taught me to grow up a bit. In the end, achieving this degree came down to responsibility and commitment to completing my studies and to making this profession my own. I wanted to achieve this goal by being true to myself instead of just following in someone else’s footsteps, and Awanuiārangi gave me the confidence to do that. Not only that, but also the confidence to continue with my studies – after completing my degree I went straight into post-graduate studies and in 2019 will complete the final year of my Master of Māori Studies.

Te Rangihaeata Hare, Bachelor of Education - teaching graduate