Te Ara Whakamana in Education

To date, 85 schools in New Zealand have experienced Te Ara Whakamana: Mana Enhancement with over 1,000 educators and professionals now trained in the Model, including in early childhood, special education and adult learning settings.

We are members of the Ministry of Education’s Professional Learning and Development Provider Panel, specialising in Cultural Capability, Social and Emotional Literacy, Community Engagement and Local Curriculum Design. If you are an MoE education provider or belong to a Kāhui Ako/Community of Learning, you are able to use your approved regionally allocated PLD hours with Ako Solutionz for training in Te Ara Whakamana. For more information about how your school, Kāhui Ako or Community of Learning can apply visit Apply for regionally-allocated PLD, or contact us and we can talk you through the application process. Please also find a downloadable Te Ara Whakamana Brochure below.

Te Ara Whakamana Brochure Download

A whole of school approach

Te Ara Whakamana: Mana Enhancement is most effective as a school wide approach. This brings together principals, senior management, teachers and support staff, board of trustees, whānau, and support services, to provide an environment prepared for success. Through the PLD fund, training in Te Ara Whakamana is delivered over 2 days, set one month apart, with ongoing support and mentoring over a 12-18 month period, including specialist whānau training days. Schools then can reapply to the fund to receive further support, training of new staff, refresher trainings and additional whānau trainings, all tailored to their specific needs.

TAW implementation strategy
2 full day training sessions (set 1 month apart)
Online zoom support sessions for staff
School visits
Whānau training
Ongoing mentoring and support
Refresher trainings
Access to the Te Ara Whakamana online shared Community of Practice
Tuakana mentorship from other Te Ara Whakamana schools
Annual Te Ara Whakamana Unconference and Mana Leadership Camp

Educational support staff

Te Ara Whakamana is used by a wide range of educational support staff including Educational Psychologists, Clinical Psychologists, Resource Teachers for Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs), Social Workers in Schools, Speech Language Therapists, Teacher Aides, Special Education Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) and Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs). Te Ara Whakamana is especially suited to working with children struggling with emotional regulation, those with FASD, neurodivergent children, and those with special needs.

Educational support staff often attend trainings at schools in their area, or attend via the 2-day online training, hosted regularly throughout the year.

Early childhood education

The use of colour, shapes and imagery present strong cognitive markers for learning. Storytelling provides a safe place from which tamariki/young children can explore dissonance, conflict and challenges. Te Ara Whakamana offers an opportunity for parents, caregivers and whānau/family members to actively acknowledge and uphold the mana of their tamariki/children, identify their strengths, talents, behaviours, likes and dislikes through a positive cultural lens.

Early childhood educators are sometimes trained as part of a Kāhui ako, alongside schools in their area, or via the 2-day online training. We are in the process of applying for SELO (Strengthening Early Learning Opportunities for children, whānau, families and communities) accreditation, which will allow early learning centres to apply to have Te Ara Whakamana fully funded through their regional PLD allocation.