Fall 2009: New Zealand speakers offer education perspectives for Indigenous peoples at ISER

Monday, Sept. 28, noon-1 p.m.
ISER Conference Room, Fifth Floor, Diplomacy Building

Lynne Harata Te Aika will provide an overview of some educational initiatives related to Maori education in New Zealand -- known as Aotearoa among the Maori, the country's indigenous people. Those initiatives include revitalizing language, raising Maori achievement, and increasing Maori participation in making decisions about and implementing education programs.

Richard Manning will discuss the Treaty of Waitangi and its implications for educational theory, policy and practice. The speakers are visiting Alaska as part of their efforts to establish links and networks with indigenous communities and educators working in the field of indigenous education. Their goal is to help support the restoration of indigenous languages worldwide and ensure that indigenous knowledge, language and culture are passed from one generation to the next.

Professor Te Aika is the head of school for staff in the School of Maori in the College of Education at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Before joining the faculty at the University of Canterbury, she worked for a tribal group and was responsible for developing a strategy for revitalizing the Maori language. She has also been involved in grassroots family initiatives in education and setting up bilingual and immersion programs in schools.

Professor Manning is a lecturer and coordinator of the Treaty Education Program in the School of Maori. He has extensive experience working with Maori communities on educational and historical research projects. Before coming to the University of Canterbury, he was a claims inquiry facilitator for the New Zealand Ministry of Justice and a policy analyst with the Department of Maori Affairs and the Iwi Transition Agency.

This ISER Lunchtime Talk is a joint presentation of the Institute of Social and Economic Research and the College of Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Everyone is welcome to attend.

The Diplomacy Building is at 4500 Diplomacy Drive, at the corner of Tudor Road and Tudor Centre Drive. Parking is free. Call (907) 786-7710 if you need directions.