Kā nui te mihi ki a Yo Heta-Lensen (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine), Senior Lecturer in our School of Community Studies, who has been named one of New Zealand’s top tertiary teachers by Ako Aotearoa on behalf of the Minister of Education.
As Merran announced yesterday, Yo is one of five award winners in the Kaupapa Māori category of the National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards (TTEA) 2020; the first win for Unitec in the Kaupapa Māori category. It is also the greatest number of Kaupapa Māori teachers to be recognised in any one year since the category was introduced ten years ago.
As an award winner, Yo will also be in the running for the top award, the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award, which will be announced at a later date.
The panel of judges said that Yo’s work in early childhood teacher education – embedded in Kaupapa Māori – is “motivational, transformative and empowering”.
They also said that, “Yo creates learning environments to enable leadership potential to flourish through relational teaching and the principle of ako. One course she designed, ‘Ngā Kete Manaakitanga’ – helping student teachers’ develop their competency in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori – has had a profound impact on learners.”
One of her students commented, “Through [this] course … I gained a more holistic understanding of who I am…”
Anyone who knows Yo will know her enthusiasm, her aroha for her students and her dedicated commitment to living our Te Noho Kotahitanga values in every aspect of her mahi.
In response to winning the award, Yo said “Tuatahi, ka tuku mihi ki te Matua nui i te rangi mo ana manaakitanga; taku hepara, taku oranga. Mauri ora.”
“I am thrilled to receive an award that honours Kaupapa Māori. I am dedicated to transformational education and know that there is still much work to do to achieve an education paradigm that supports the mana, mauri, wairua of all our ancestors, our mokopuna and of our whenua. Every time I teach, I learn something new; that is the benefit and great privilege of being a teacher, and I am humbled to be able to play a role in supporting learners to want to know more!”
“Ehara taku toa he toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. This whakatauki recognises that my strength is not of myself alone; it comes from my parents and my ancestors, and the many people- past and present who walk alongside me. I am blessed to have our Paeārahi, Matua Hare Paniora, and Matua Haare Williams and our Pou Aroha, whaea Lynda Toki to guide my mahi. I pay tribute to my whānau at Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka who commit daily to embedding the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga into our campus culture, helping to create a Tiriti based learning environment.”
The submission to the awards wouldn’t have been possible without the input of our Te Puna Ako team – and Karen Haines in particular – who provided support and mentorship to Yo in her journey to achieving this highly-esteemed accolade.
We also acknowledge Dr Kristie Cameron, Senior Lecturer in the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, who was our other awards nominee, and whose outstanding level of teaching was recognised in her nomination.
Yo’s national success brings pride to us all, as a member of the Unitec whānau.
Huge congratulations Yo! I’m so glad to see all that hard work of yours paid off and for another one of Unitec’s great teachers to get acknowledged like this is awesome!
At the same time, really sorry to see Kristie miss out, you both do fantastic work.
Tena koe whaea Yo, rawe tena. You are awesome. I am grateful to work with you.
Congratulations
arohanui
Pauline
Nga mihi nui e te tuakana
Kei te tu rangatira koe i nga wa katoa i raro i te korowai o nga taonga tuku iho.
Tu mai, tu mai, tu mai ra!
Tenā Koe whaea Yo, ka rawe tou mahi tahi. You have lead the way for many. I know because of the generosity of you and your team to originally share the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga with our Whitinga Foundation roopu several years ago. Congratulations Mwah!