Tania M. Ka'ai, sometimes known as Tania Kaai-Oldman,[3] is a New Zealand education academic. She is a full professor of language revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology.[4]
Academic career
Ka'ai earned a 1995 education PhD from the University of Waikato, with a thesis titled ' Te tātari i te kaupapa' , which looked at ways the New Zealand qualifications framework could be used as a tool for indigenous knowledge to be integrated and recognised as a valid part of the education system in New Zealand.[5][6] After working at the University of Otago,[7][8] from which she was stood down in contentious circumstances,[9] Ka'ai moved to the Auckland University of Technology with John Moorfield.[4] Notable students include Diane Charlie-Puna and Hana O'Regan.[10][11]
Ka'ai's research is centred on learning of indigenous languages (particularly te reo) in formal and semi-formal educational settings. She is a strong advocate for te reo being compulsory in New Zealand schools.[12]
Selected works
Ka'ai, Tania. Introduction to Māori culture and society. Longman, 2004.
Ka'ai, Tania M., and Rawinia Higgins. "Te ao Māori–Māori world-view." Ki Te Whaiao–An Introduction to Māori Culture and Society. Auckland: Pearson Education (2004): 13–25.
Jenkins, Kuni, and Tania Ka’ai. "Maori education: A cultural experience and dilemma for the state–a new direction for Maori society." The politics of learning and teaching in Aotearoa–New Zealand (1994): 79–148.
^Ka’ai, Tania (1990). Te hiringa taketake : mai i Te Kohanga Reo i te kura = Maori pedagogy : Te Kohanga Reo and the transition to school (Masters thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland. hdl:2292/5984.
