The Mana Model: Creating learning environments that foster the innate mana of ākonga

This is an online PLD offering designed to support school, kura and centre teachers and leaders in creating learning environments that foster the innate mana of students.

Throughout this course you will learn meaningful and mana-sustaining ways to enhance participation, engagement and achievement of Māori students. You will also gain valuable, actionable insights on how to successfully implement the approach throughout your school or centre, and its community.

Improve the cultural capability of leaders and teachers in your school, kura or centre to create learning environments that foster Māori students' success through five optimal conditions:

• Mana Tangatarua – a diverse knowledge base and skill set
• Mana Tū – social psychological competence 
• Mana Motuhake – embedded achievement and embedded achievement
• Mana Ūkaipō – belonging and relationship with place 
• Mana Whānau – connectedness to others and collective agency 

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Dates and Times

Dates for 2025 are TBA, starting in Term 1. Please express your interest below and we will keep you updated.

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Quotes from participants on The Mana Model PLD

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I have really enjoyed the course content and reading about what other kura are doing in the mātauranga space. I have enjoyed the evidence-based research to inform practice and feel it is a well-structured, reflective tool that will directly benefit our tauira, whānau and wider community.

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It has made me reflect and incorporate different approaches in the classroom to ensure that all students feel like they belong and are successful.

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We should be utilising the Mana Model as a framework for planning, teaching, reflection in order to gain the best from ourselves as teachers, students and whānau. That while in many aspects we are meeting many of the Mana conditions, we definitely do need to develop an action plan as a kura for some aspects that are less developed.

This programme will help you strengthen leader and teacher cultural capability through:

• Exploring the potential of the Mana Model for enhancing ākonga engagement, success and achievement in your school, kura or centre
• Building knowledge of each of the Mana Model’s five optimal conditions for success, to inform leadership and teacher practice  
• Understanding the importance of mātauranga Māori and tikanga Māori for culturally sustaining pedagogy and enhancing school or centre relationships 
• Adopting the Mana Model approach as an enactment of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to enhance ākonga engagement and success

Guided by Professor Melinda Webber's research, and facilitated by Tui Tuiakaiwhakaruruhau and facilitators, this term-long programme combines three key elements to help school, kura and ECE leaders and teachers further strengthen organisation-wide cultural capability:

Self-directed knowledge-building (Ngā kete ako) ~ 7.5 hours

Participants will access the learning platform to begin self-paced reading, viewing and activities. The learning modules will focus on the foundations, concepts and real-world integration of the Mana Model.

Online, facilitated sessions (Huitopa) ~ 4.5 hours

Three 90-minute online sessions to build on in-school or in-centre application, reflection on learning to date and further discussion on important topics as guided by the Community of Practice. The 2025 cohort will start in Term 1.

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Community of Practice (Korero a rōpu) ~ 2 hours

Throughout the course, there will be regular online Korero a rōpu opportunities to engage in conversation and reflect together on key learning, along with questions for reflection at regular intervals.

Cost: $449 (GST inclusive) per person