[CjChris]

What is Te Waka Hourua? :confused:

I'm looking at a job description, which includes that the applicant must "Facilitate the implementation of Te Waka Hourua into the delivery of all programmes."

Help, please :o (Can't seem find it anywhere on the web!)

Thanks,
Christine

[holland]

what job are you applying for?

[holland]

Ive tried to look it up, and I can only find that 'waka hourua' means 'voyaging canoe'....maybe the 'Te' at the beginning gives it completely different meaning....

J x

[CjChris]

ooops, sorry!

It's a job at a polytechnic as online learning facilitator. There were other phrases in the ad that I didn't understand, but I found them online. This one is a mystery! :roll

[IanW99]

What is Te Waka Hourua? :confused:

I'm looking at a job description, which includes that the applicant must "Facilitate the implementation of Te Waka Hourua into the delivery of all programmes."

Help, please :o (Can't seem find it anywhere on the web!)

Thanks,
Christine

From an educational perspective this appears to mean Dual Heritage i.e. need to include Maori as well as European.

Te Waka Hourua - Ensures that Aoteroa/New Zealand's bicultural heritage is effectively reflected in all programmes/qualifications

Ian

[Nick88]

It is almost always govt funded jobs that have things like this in the adverts. It is a PC filter that makes sure that only the right sort of people apply for the job IMO. If you are one of the culturally sensitive elite that understand this sort of term then you are the sort of person they want for the job. It is just to make sure that everyone in the dept will be singing from the same song sheet, can't have any discordant voices, can we?

"Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato"

This sort of cultural snobbery tends to get my goat, I have never heard of anyone being declined education or healthcare in NZ due to their race being maori. Why they have to draw attention to this in a job advert is beyond me.

[IanW99]

Agreed that the government type jobs, healthcare and education all seem to include Maori in their job descriptions e.g. need to know about the treaty of Waitangi etc.

But I think you may have missed the point here, it isn't that they should or shouldn't teach people who are of Maori descent, but that when teaching a subject then they should include Maori information when relevant.

Ian

[holland]

Nothing to do with being an expert with a canoe then!!!!!!!!!!! lol

[CjChris]

If you are one of the culturally sensitive elite that understand this sort of term then you are the sort of person they want for the job. It is just to make sure that everyone in the dept will be singing from the same song sheet, can't have any discordant voices, can we?

Nick88, I did wonder about this but was not able to fully articulate without feeling self-conscious about putting it out there! Thanks!! You are right that only people "in the know" would understand this phrase and not some newbie from across the ocean...something to think about there.

it isn't that they should or shouldn't teach people who are of Maori descent, but that when teaching a subject then they should include Maori information when relevant.

IanW99, you also make a good point, also, and I find it amusing that any job description has to remind applicants that they need to include the Maori culture in their subject matter!! Are people really that narrow minded that they would exclude Maori and therefore have to be told to include it? :confused:

Nothing to do with being an expert with a canoe then!!!!!!

Holland, if being an expert in a canoe means I won't go under, then hey, I'm all for it!! :laugh

Thanks, guys, for your responses! :yes

[aggelon]

Are people really that narrow minded that they would exclude Maori and therefore have to be told to include it? :confused:


Yes, many are!

[Nick88]

Ian, you misunderstood me a little bit. What I meant was that the management of the dept in question was all from the same songsheet. There should be nobody questioning any of the PC methods or bureaucracy. These phrases are not really meant to filter out NZ newbies, but more to signal that the job will be filled by someone with the "right" views.

This sort of inclusion of maoridom seems to creep into all sorts of irrelevant areas. I heard of a basic computer course that had three compulsory visits to a marae as part of the course. They all had to be paid for by someone.....

[upnorthkyosa]

Consider for one minute the fate of other native cultures in other areas of the world. Some really bad examples are Austrailia and the US where extermination became the official government policy. The survivors of these pogroms were left with a disjointed culture that was constantly under attack by attempts to erase its existence. I cite the "stolen generation" in Oz which is an embarressingly recent atrocity committed against native people.

NZ is different. Sure, there certainly was some skullduggery involved in the settlement and confiscation of lands, but, overall, the maori escaped the fate that was visited upon most native cultures in the world when they contacted "Western" cultures.

Further, something really unique was attempted in NZ at Waitangi that was not repeated anywhere else in the world. The creation of a bi-cultural nation is not something that you can look elsewhere in order to make it work better. It's never been attempted and I don't think it ever will be again because it bucks the whole "globalism" trend of one culture.

The bottom line is that the maori have something unique to offer NZ culture as a whole. This sort of experience is not to be taken likely considering the collective history of native people around the world. I think that you needlessly deny yourself an opportunity to personally grow by painting all of these efforts with a PC-tyrannical brush.