Te Tiriti Audit, Te Koeke Tiriti and our Mātāpono.

In the third instalment of Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union’s video series sharing members’ perspectives on our rules review, Jael Reiri and Rachel Bolstad take us through the values and principles that underpin our new rules.

For Jael Reiri, a Te Pūkenga Lecturer, Waikato Tainui, Dr Moana Jackson’s 2015 Te Tiriti audit of TEU was crucial for its ability to "shine a light on things that haven’t worked" and challenge us to not "just give things Māori lip service."

"We need to be prepared as staff in the tertiary sector to ensure that we understand things Māori, that we’re on our way to being able to korero Māori so that we can be prepared for our up and coming Kura Kaupapa children and our Wharekura kids."

Rachel Bolstad, Chief Researcher at NZCER, Tangata Tiriti couldn’t agree more.

"...we’re in an education sector but many of us have not had adequate Te Tiriti education – but it’s never too late. For me, the fact that a lot of my Te Tiriti education has happened because of the union that I’m involved with is a wonderful thing, I think. But the work’s not done and we know that’s an ongoing effort that we have to make to support everyone in our union to see that this is an opportunity for growth and learning and moving forward together."

"I think it's exciting."