Peyton Runciman

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For Maori, the ability to retain their Maori ways of being has been significantly affected

following the colonisation of Aotearoa. Through many years of assimilation policies, the use

of te reo Maori, tikanga and Maoritanga (Maori culture, practices and beliefs), has

decreased (Tocker, 2012). Sir James Henare stated that “the language is the core of our

Maori culture and mana. Ko te reo te auri o te mana Maori (the language is the life force of

the mana Maori)” (New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal, 2013). Therefore, with te reo Maori

being a dying language, it has many other large effects on Maori as a whole. In a lecture, K.

Tocker (personal communication, March 28, 2019) stated that in 1913, there were only 90%

of Maori children that could speak fluently, in the 1930s this decreased to 75%, followed by

26% in the 1950s and then a significant drop to 5% in 1975. As a result of this, many

initiatives arose with the hope to regenerate the Maori language. In this essay, I will discuss

the Maori led initiative of kohanga reo that has impacted on Maori language regeneration.

This initiative led into the development of kura kaupapa Maori and other Maori medium

school institutions.

Kohanga Reo, that translates to language nest, is an early childhood education programme

which is based on total immersion in the Maori language as well as full immersion in Maori

culture and values (Clark & Grey, 2010; Forsyth & Leaf, 2010). The idea of the Kohanga Reo

Movement was first established in the 1970s and 1980s with the revival of ‘te reo me nga

tikanga Maori’ as the main concern (NZ Waitangi Tribunal, 2013). It developed in July 1982,

where participants in the Wananga Whakatauira set the goal to have around 300 Whanau

Centres which provide Te Kohanga Reo programmes for Maori children. The first Kohanga

Reo centre opened in April 1982 at Pukeatua Marae in Wainuiomata and by 1985, the

number of Kohanga Reo centres was around 400. In 1998, more than 500 Kohanga Reo
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centres were providing education for around 8 000 Maori children under the age of 5.

Towards the end of 1990, 616 Kohanga Reo centres had been established with an estimate

that by the end of 1995, nearly 20 000 Maori children would have participated in Kohanga

Reo (Clark & Grey, 2010; NZ Waitangi Tribunal, 2013). Following this, in 1994, there were

800 Kohanga Reo centres that catered for 14 000 Maori children and today, there are over

460 Kohanga Reo centres established throughout Aotearoa that caters for over 9 000 Maori

children. Originally, Kohanga Reo was set up under the Department of Maori Affairs, it was

then transferred to the Ministry of Education in 1990. Kohanga Reo then had to come under

the early childhood education regulations, this took Maori some time to come to terms with

the new regulatory environment and having to comply to the regulations of the early

childhood sector. This came at a great cost while Kohanga Reo centres struggled to maintain

their purpose of total immersion in te reo Maori and Maori culture, however, with the

strong pleas from kaumatua, parents and Maori children, the Kohanga Reo Movement

continued to help save the Maori language from disappearing ((Te Kohanga Reo National

Trust, n.d.).

Following the Kohanga Reo Movement, kura kaupapa Maori, Maori medium primary

schools, were established. Kura kaupapa Maori act in similar ways to Kohanga Reo, where

the main objectives are the preservation of Maori language and culture. Kura kaupapa

Maori were established because parents were unable to find primary schools that were able

to continue the full immersion in Maori learning once the left Kohanga Reo. The family of

the children that had finished Kohanga Reo set up kura kaupapa Maori, the first kura

kaupapa Maori was set up in 1985 at Hoani Waititi Marae. Soon after, other kura kaupapa

Maori were also established. They eventually gained official government recognition in 1989
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and within this year, those that established kura kaupapa Maori also developed the Te Aho

Matua document that states the principles of kura kaupapa Maori (Tocker, 2012; 2015).

Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Maori have worked to regenerate the Maori language by

fully immersing Maori children into the culture of Maori and the Maori language. The goal of

Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Maori is that the children will leave speaking te reo and

feeling positive about their culture (Bishop & Glynn, 1998). By enabling young Maori

children to be fully immersed in the te reo language and Maori culture, children are able to

fluently speak their native language and will be able to continue the use of the Maori

language with their families and their children in the future. Also, from Maori children being

involved in Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Maori, it is has begun to stimulate parents to

also begin to use the Maori language. Not long after the first Kohanga Reo centre was

established, in 1987, the New Zealand government officially made the Maori language an

official language of New Zealand. Te reo Maori also begun to be brought into English

medium and mainstream schools as a language to learn within the learning languages sector

of the curriculum. With the continued involvement with the Kohanga Reo Movement and

similar initiatives, will slowly increase the use of the Maori language with children but also

within Maori families. Toni Waho, a school principal of a Kohanga Reo centre, states that the

“big picture is that we are looking at the reclamation, regeneration and revitilisation of our

language and culture over the next two generations. If we succeed in creating a Maori-

language-speaking community, we will have saved the language for all these families” (The

Age, 2007).
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In conclusion, the Maori language will eventually no longer be considered a dying language.

In the 2001 consensus, it showed that there were 25.15% of fluent speakers of the Maori

language (Statistics NZ, 2013). This is an increase from the 5% of fluent speakers in 1975.

Although, the percentage of fluent speakers of te reo has not increased back to the amount

of fluent speakers in 1913, it is still a significant step towards fully regenerating the Maori

language. Due to the Kohanga Reo initiative, in 2006, there were 131 613 Maori that are

able to hold a conversation in the Maori language (McCaffery, 2010). The Kohanga Reo

initiative has begun to successfully regenerate the Maori language through fully immersing

Maori children in the Maori language as well as the Maori culture and values. Kohanga Reo

has also created effects on the families of these young children by encouraging them to also

speak the Maori language at home which will also significantly increase the amount of

fluent Maori speakers in New Zealand.

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References
Bishop, R., & Glynn, T. (1998). The development of kaupapa maori education initiatives in
Aotearoa, New Zealand. Education Canada, 38(2), 50-57. Retrieved from
https://content.talisaspire.com/auckland/bundles/5a371a93646be059dc5c8134

Forsyth, H. & Leaf, G. (2010). Te tiriti o waitangi and biculturalism in early childhood education.
In Clark, B. & Grey, E. A. (Eds.), Āta kite ate pae =: Scanning the horizon: Perspectives on early
childhood education (pp. 23-36). Retrieved from
https://content.talisaspire.com/auckland/bundles/5a3829da646be0199a5ec204

New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal. (2013). He kupu onamata mō te kōhanga reo: The history of the
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