• Using te reo in our everyday activities at the University
• Te reo names for senior leadership
• Te reo names at the University—the waka metaphor

Associate Professor Meegan Hall, Assistant Vice-Chancellor Mātauranga Māori, often collaborates with Professor Rawinia Higgins, Deputy Vice-Chancellor—Māori and Engagement, to name the University’s various tools, schools, roles, and more.

Grounding a new learning management system

When the learning management system was switched from Blackboard to Canvas in 2021, the University wanted to approach it as not just one tool switched out for another, but as something that incorporates the whole virtual learning environment for students. The concept was of a learning platform that was everywhere—in class, in your home, on the train.

“The name needed to be something solid and strong and all-encompassing. So we landed on Nuku. It links directly to the word Papatūānuku which, as you know, connects us to the earth. As a name, it grounds our learning in this place, this whenua, and gives a physical presence to what could be seen by some as an abstract concept,” says Dr Hall.

“So that little word packs a lot of stuff in, and I see it as a challenge for the University as well. We work hard to make sure that whatever is put into that Nuku suite of tools and support services is really solid and helpful and sustaining. It wasn’t an insignificant name to apply.”

Pronouncing our beautiful reo  

Careful consideration goes into giving Māori names at the University, including whether people can pronounce the words correctly. Dr Hall says there are some beautiful Māori words that could be used but they can be complicated for English language speakers to get their tongues around.

“It’s not impossible,” she says. “Every Māori word can be said by an English language speaker. We've got all the sounds, we just sometimes put them in a different order from what people are used to. But as a community, we have the capability to learn. A classic example of that where I really learned a big lesson was naming Tītoko.”

Tītoko—the Centre for Student Success—is named after the sprit on a sail. It is an extra piece of wood that reshapes the sail to allow waka to go further and faster. “If we conceptualise our students and staff as the waka, we can potentially add things to our waka to make them work better,” says Dr Hall. “In the case of Tītoko, this was an important team that would work with and assist students. But the students are still doing the work, they're still on their own learning journey.”

In the initial days, the name Tītoko was well received, but it was frequently mispronounced. “We did a lot of work in the first year of coaching people—if we heard it being said wrong, we gently corrected them,” says Dr Hall.  (If you’re wondering, it’s tī like a cup of tea, to like you tore a piece of paper, and ko like an apple core. Tea-tore-core.)

Here is a list of some of the approved University names and places in te reo Māori, and some further resources you may like to incorporate into your everyday use at the University.