Last night, we attended the launch of a seminal book series, “A critical guide to Māori and Pākehā histories” from the articulate, passionate and forward-thinking scholar and activist Tamsin Hanly (far right) at Te Puna Wananga at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland.
Consisting of six books, they form a new Curriculum Programme Resource (CPR) which can be purchased by schools or teachers to form lessons and activities in History and Social Studies in primary, secondary or early childhood education. Written for over four years and edited and illustrated by Ruth Lemon, Tamsin has used the books on pupils at Newton Central School in Auckland where she taught for seventeen years.
Tamsin mortgaged her house in order to redress the paucity of critical resources for both teachers and students, as well as being rejected several times by the Ministry of Education for funding as they unbelievably responded to her: “They don’t fund curriculum”.
You can buy the books, as well as hiring Tamsin to unpack these resources for your group here and support Tamsin and Ruth here.
Our director, Louise Tu’u and close friend and educator, Janet Akeripa from Auckland University of Technology, were lucky to be in Tamsin’s first class at Kowhai Intermediate over twenty years ago and are proudly pictured here with the wonderful resources. As Pasifika women, the knowledge from these books is invaluable to educate and understand the bicultural history of Niu Sila and pass this down through their students and aiga.
Help our young people engage and learn, armed with age-appropriate resources, about what it means to live here in Aotearoa by buying and supporting these valuable books for your school, workplace and community group.
We Should Practice 