Inspire in Education Charitable Trusts Mission
Producing Rangatira for the FutureInspire in Education Charitable Trusts Mission is to remove the commonly used label "at risk" to "at promise" by producing rangatira for the future. Rangatira being, our leaders, future parents, employers, kaiako to their whanau.
Our mission is for our tamariki to walk tall and proud in both worlds, te ao Māori me te ao Pākehā (the Māori world and the Pākehā world). Knowing who they are and where they’re from. The school | kaiako (teacher) knowing who they are and their whanau which will clearly articulate that strong cultural identity, which is both a foundation for success today and a tool for future success. There will be less truancy which means less opportunity to do wrong, more positive outcomes for students, whanau, schools, and community. More knowledge and belief, therefore, more participation in both worlds and being able to balance them both, being able to implement them into their life. More focus on a career from an early age, allowing our tamariki to prepare earlier, which will lead to better NCEA outcomes and better employment opportunities for Maori. This then leads to better parenting outcomes, the parent becomes the mentor which will lead to better living conditions, therefore, less stress, anxiety, and suicide amongst our Māori people. The overall mission is for Inspire In Education to be made redundant in a generations time. How? by helping to foster an educational environment that focuses on the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi in education. We are passionate about the facilitation of connections between mana whenua and schools. We recognise the importance of engaging relationships that will help learners and their whānau thrive. Inspire in Education offers a range of educational mentoring programs designed to suit the needs of each learner, their whānau, and the schooling community. The organisation also provides a range of professional learning and development services to assist schools with Māori cultural competence standards and Māori curriculum design. Inspire in Education Limited has charitable status and is an innovative educational organisation servicing the needs of Māori learners now and in the future. Inspire in Education uses a kaupapa Māori approach to release the potential of Māori learners and their whānau in English-medium schools. What could we do to inspire the young people like the ones in the data? we propose three strategies. Number One. let's get rid of our deficit perspective in education. "These students could, not all, come from a culture of violence, a culture of poverty. These students are at-risk; these students are truant. These students are empty containers for us to fill with knowledge. They have the problems, we have the solutions. Number two. Let's value the stories that young people bring to school. Their stories of overcoming insurmountable odds are so powerful. And I know you know some of these stories. These very same stories and experiences already have Grit, Character, and Resilience in them. Matua Conrad has given up his career in the corporate world to help our young people refine those stories. Helping them to be proud of who they are, because our education system welcomes their families, their cultures, their communities and the skill set they've learned to survive. Number three. The strategy being the most important: Resources. We have to provide adequate resources to young people. Grit alone isn't going to cut it. You can sit there and tell me all you want, "Hey Conrad, pick yourself up by the bootstraps." But if I was born without any straps on my boots…. How am I supposed to pick myself up? |
We know that Maori students, in particular Maori boys, are sadly often over represented in the tail end of our educational achievement curve.
As such, we often find them in starring roles in many school’s achievement targets. It appears that many of our Māori boys are underachieving across the board, and most notably in Writing, Maths, Tech More importantly, they appear to be achieving at a substantially lower standard than female classmates, and most certainly in comparison to Pakeha | European students of their same age, and in the same learning environments. So, it stands to reason that we must have achievement targets aimed at improving the achievement of Māori boys in education, doesn’t it? Or…is there more to this story? Kia ora, ko Conrad Waitoa toku ingoa, founder and Principal Facilitator of Inspire In Education Charitable Trust. After 9 years on school(s) board of trustees, in 2016, instead of asking the schools, what are they going to do, to improve the National Standards for Maori learners I decided to investigate and help said school find that answer and it was then, Inspire In Education was born with an objective to inspire the young rangatahi (youth) like the ones in the data? So, let's start by changing the following wording from "At Risk" to "At Promise" I would personally like to thank all who've helped in the start-up, the research, the ongoing support especially from my loving family. I have the most satisfying job, ever! Pictured, matua Conrad, Nicholas, Sophie and Verena, ko Waitoa toku whanau |
