Poutama Ara Rau is a multidisciplinary team of about 50 University of Otago researchers and post-graduate students. Our research is grounded in mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and Māori pedagogies. We work collaboratively with researchers and entities throughout the country, including notably with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence and Ako Aotearoa.
Poutama Ara Rau also supports Māori postgraduate students as part of the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga national Te Kupenga o MAI (Māori and Indigenous Scholar) network.
Poutama Ara Rau researchers in the news
Meet some of our researchers in the news.
A selection of our research projects
Teaching in the Dark
Professor Karyn Paringatai is undertaking significant research into utilising the pre-contact Māori pedagogy of teaching in complete darkness. Applying this research in her tertiary teaching is leading to increased student achievement in her performing arts paper, MAOR108 Waiata: Te Tīmatanga.
Indigenising legal education
Professor Jacinta Ruru, Metiria Turei and Mihiata Pirini are part of a national collaboration of Māori law academics seeking greater recognition of tikanga Māori in the teaching of the (Bachelor of Laws) LLB degree. They have received more than $260,000 in funding from the Borrin Foundation, along with significant support from all six of Aotearoa New Zealand's law schools, to advance this important research.
Read more about the Indigenising legal education research project
Educating for Indigenous Health Equity
Professor Suzanne Pitama, Tania Huria, Professor Cameron Lacey, Dr Maia Melbourne-Wilcox, Dr Maria Patu, and Amber Philpott (Otago's Māori Indigenous Health Institute (MIHI) researchers) are part of international research and teaching collaborations including the LIME (Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education) Network. They utilise researched Māori andragogy to deliver the Hauora Māori undergraduate and post-graduate curriculum. Their research informed teaching supports health professionals to have the tools to address health inequities for Māori.
Read about the Māori Indigenous Health Institute's work in Medical Education.
Decolonising Planning
Professor Michelle Thompson-Fawcett, with national and international research collaborators, is researching how indigenously-grounded urban design and development principles provide an opportunity to bring Indigenous cultural connection into the urban environment. This research is contributing to decolonising the tertiary Planning curriculum, providing important material for the incorporation of Indigenous values and traditions within planning processes.
Indigenous Participation in Higher Education
Research Professor Reremoana (Moana) Theodore, with national collaborators, is utilising her lifecourse research skills to examine Māori university graduate outcomes . This research project is helping to build an evidence base to increase Māori and Pacific academic representation in universities and address systemic racism. Outputs include Why Isn't My Professor Māori, The Pakaru 'Pipeline': Māori and Pasifika pathways within the academy.
Getting Down to Business
Associate Professor Diane Ruwhiu, Associate Professor Katharina Ruckstuhl, Dr Rachel Sizemore and others, are building a researched pathway for success for Māori business students. Curriculum innovation and optional initiatives are being developed to further encourage Māori business students to succeed as Māori in their learning.
AKI Apps
Otago researchers are developing interactive gaming tools to support their tertiary students' learning of Te Ao Māori, specifically te reo Māori. Professor Poia Rewi (now CEO of Te Mātāwai) and Associate Professor Katharina Ruckstuhl first released AKI as a free Māori language vocabulary and phrase-learning app. Professor Suzanne Pitama has since released AKI Hauora that teaches health professionals to learn health-related te reo Māori terms.
Poutama Ara Rau teaching and research videos
Ako Aotearoa award winners for excellence in tertiary teaching
Diane Ruwhiu – recipient of a 2021 award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching - Kaupapa Māori category
Anne Marie Jackson – recipient of a 2020 award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching - Kaupapa Māori category
Michelle Thompson-Fawcett – recipient of a 2018 award Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching - Kaupapa Māori category
Jacinta Ruru – recipient of the 2016 Ako Aotearoa Prime Minister's Supreme award
Suzanne Pitama – recipient of the 2015 Ako Aotearoa Prime Minister's Supreme award
Seminar Series 2019 – “E kore e hapa”
Forum 2019 – “Delivering equity of health and wellbeing in Aotearoa” – Associate Professor Joanne Baxter
“Te Folauga The Journey” – Faumuina Professor Fa'afetai Sopoaga
“Karanga! Kīwaha?” – Associate Professor Karyn Paringatai
“So flippin' awesome!: Using the flipped classroom in Indigenous teaching” – Professor Suzanne Pitama
“Whakatipu te Mohiotanga o te Ira: Growing capability and content in genetics-related education” – Dr Phillip Wilcox
Seminar Series 2018 – “Ānana, now you know”
“Everything you've wanted to know about the Hauora Māori curriculum” – Associate Professor Suzanne Pitama
“Transforming the academy: Māori student success in health sciences” – Associate Professor Jo Baxter