Moko’s message: It doesn’t matter where you come from

• Published date: 23 April 2024
• Publication title: Northland Age, The

Tepania, 33, will graduate at the University of Waikato on Thursday with a Master of Education degree with First Class Honours specialising in Māori medium education

“I’m a kid from a dusty gravel road in the middle of nowhere,” Tepania said. “Graduating shows that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from. You can do anything you make up your mind to do and bring that home to your people.”

The mayor (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa/ Te Rarawa) has been selected by university faculty leadership as the sole student representative to speak at his graduation ceremony about his experience as a student, what he got out of his studies and some lasting advice for fellow graduates.

His Master of Education dissertation focused on using maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar for learning te reo Māori in education. He graduates from Te Kura Toi Tangata School of Education within the university’s Division of Education.

“The research I undertook affirmed that the maramataka is holistic and personal and is an intergenerational form of cultural knowledge transmission that we can use to excel, just as our tūpuna used it,” Tepania said.

He chose te reo Māori as a subject at Pompallier Catholic College and fell in love with the language, and this led him on a pathway to become a Māori language teacher, working at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe before becoming mayor.

Senior students from the kura helped with his Master of Education research.

“I love the te ao Māori notions of success - ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. Success is not mine alone, but that of many. Surrounded by whānau, friends, fellow classmates, and our esteemed university top shelf, how amazing it is to graduate.”

His graduation is the culmination of a journey starting at the university as an undergraduate 15 years ago.

Tepania completed a Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) and a Bachelor of Arts in Te Reo Māori at the University of Waikato and entered the teaching profession in 2014.

He was...