MIT 2025: The Journey Comes to a Close...

Kia ora! Today marks our final hui at KPMG for the 2025 Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher cohort, and I’m feeling a mix of gratitude, deep appreciation for every kindness and support shown along the way, and quiet pride. It’s surreal to think we’re standing at the end of this chapter. It feels like we only began last week, yet our journey truly started back in 2024 with nothing more than an idea sketched on paper—an idea we shared with Matt and Dorothy, followed by an interview that nudged it into motion.

I applied with a simple hope - to make life a little easier for kaiako in kura Māori who work tirelessly to craft meaningful literacy experiences for our ākonga. What unfolded became so much more than a project. It was a year of deep learning, stretched thinking, courageous conversations, new friendships, and a growing circle of people who reminded me why this mahi matters.

To Matt, Dorothy, Jenny, and Justine Todd (from KPMG) - if you ever come across my blog, please know how grateful I am. Your encouragement, your belief, and your willingness to walk me through the MIT process (and nudge me in the right direction when needed) have shaped this experience in ways I’m still processing. You have each helped make the MIT journey something truly special. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

To the rest of my 2025 MIT peers—what a privilege it has been to walk alongside you this year. Each of you carries something truly special, and you’ve brought so much insight, experience, and passion to our collective journey. I’ve loved getting to know you all and witnessing your projects grow from seed to fruition. I wish you all the best for 2026!

Please click on the links in the image below to follow my journey and to explore more about the MIT process and how it unfolds. I’ve included the most meaningful moments from this year—milestones that challenged, inspired, and strengthened me. I hope they offer a spark of inspiration for you too, wherever you are in your own journey.

2025 MIT - Prinicpals' Wānanga

Today was a big day — the annual Manaiakalani Principals Wānanga! It was a great opportunity to gain insight into what happens behind the scenes and contribute to planning for 2026.

The day began with our MIT group presenting in the Banquet Room at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre. Despite a few nerves, my presentation went well, and I was really pleased with how my project was received by others. Afterwards, several people approached me to share how much they resonated with my point that there aren’t enough rauemi available in kura Māori, and that we don’t receive enough resources, professional development, or support. Many were also excited by the idea of having a central hub where they could easily access rauemi for te reo matatini.

Even more inspiring were my MIT peers and their incredible presentations — the effort and dedication they’ve poured into their projects was evident. It was amazing to see their ideas come to life and make such a meaningful impact within their communities.

Next, we listened to presentations from the Manaiakalani research team, followed by time in our cluster groups. As part of Te Purapura Ngātahi o Manaiakalani, it was a great opportunity to connect with others in our cluster, review and analyse our 2025 Reading Questionnaire Survey results on EdPotential, and take part in collaborative planning for 2026 — setting our collective goals and identifying the key actions needed to achieve them.

As always with ManaiaKalani & Waipuna, we were well looked after. We wanted for nothing and left with a full hinengaro and full bellies!

Below, is a copy of the Google Slides I used for the Pecha Kucha presentation made into a video. Please feel free to check it out. If it resonataes with you, please utilise the QR codes at the end and USE the site, SHARE the site and CONTRIBUTE to the site!

Ngā mihi!

2025 MIT - ON THE ROAD

Auē, auē!

Right at the last minute, I couldn't make the MIT On The Road Tour due to whānau circumstances. Although I couldn't make the Roadshow, I did intently follow my collegues journey as they travelled down South and presented their projects using Pecha Kucha (with some envy!).

Despite not being able to make the tour with my MIT peers, I was able to make a video to showcase my presentation that was shown on the tour slotted inbetween my cohorts presentations. Please feel free to watch the video to get a sneak peek of my project - Te Kete Kaiako.

I look forward to catching up with my MIT peers at the Principals' Wānanga at the end of October and sharing my presentation and project with you all.

If you have any pātai about the project and / or  the site - Te Kete Kaiako, please feel free to leave a comment and ask!

2025 MIT - ONLINE CONNECT HUI #4

Today we had a quick online catch-up with Matt and the MIT cohort.
The focus was to run through our Pecha Kucha presentations. Although mine isn’t final yet, it was a great opportunity to share my progress and receive feedback on what’s working well and what could be improved.

Some key takeaways for me were:

• Pace yourself — nerves on the day can make you speak faster, so be mindful of your timing.

• Include a few slides with lighter content to pause, breathe, and regroup if needed.

• The audience enjoys seeing the project in action — include photos of students engaging with the content.

• Keep slides clear and simple — avoid videos, GIFs, or busy backgrounds, as these can distract from your key message.

Next steps include continuing to chip away at the Pecha Kucha presentation over the next couple of weeks. I’ll practise my timing to ensure each slide stays within the 20-second limit. I also think it would be beneficial to practise presenting in front of others — starting with a small group and gradually building up to a larger audience to help ease nerves around public speaking.

2025 MIT - KPMG HUI #3

I always look forward to our hui at KPMG — Justine welcomed us warmly and spent the day quietly guiding, encouraging, and challenging us with thoughtful feedback. As always, we were spoiled with delicious kai and an inspiring space designed for collaboration and creativity that is Rangiātea Infinity Room.

Another highlight was catching up with my MIT peers and being mentored by Matt and Dorothy as we worked on our projects bringing thiem to fruitition.

The kaupapa for today is to put together our our presentations to showcase our projects using the Pecha Kucha format.

A Pecha Kucha presentation is a fast-paced format where you present 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds, creating a concise and engaging six-minute-and-40-second talk.

We were fortunate to be able to watch the presentations of former MIT colleagues (and Matt!) for inspiration. Next, I made a start on my planning document and Pecha Kucha slides for the upcoming MIT On The Road Tour and the 2025 Principals' Wānanga.

To be honest the 20-second timer definitely added a bit of pressure! It has forced me to be concise with what I wanted to say, to cut out the 'waffle talk'.

My next steps are to go home, keep working on the Pecha Kucha presentation - working through each slide, making sure that I do justice in showcasing my project AND that I am on point and concise in getting my message across. 

2025 MIT - ONLINE CONNECT HUI #3

 

Yesterday afternoon, the MIT cohort meet online. It was decided that now is the time to make our sites go 'LIVE'. Although, not quite finished now its time to share my project with my peers and seek feedback and suggestions. 

I also invite you to have a look through the site. Click on the image above (Or click on the link here). If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave a post below and let me know what you think!

2025 MIT - KPMG HUI #2

Our second KPMG Hui was a chance for our cohort to pause, share progress, and refine our projects. The focus was on presenting prototypes, receiving constructive feedback, and developing our sites further.

We began by reflecting on what had emerged for us including any insights that have add clarity to our purpose or challenged our thinking. For me, the most powerful feedback came directly from those my project intends to help and support - other kaiako.

I have finished my prototype and have shared it with a few select people and have asked for their feedback on the content and layout.  I appreciated their comments and suggestions. 

E tono atu au ki aku hoa kaimahi.Tokomaha ngā tāngata e tautoko ana i te kaupapa. He nui te hiahia mō ngā rauemi reo matatini. He nui hoki te hiahia mō ngā rauemi e honohono ana ki te rangaranga reo ā-tā. The feedback received indicated lots of support from my peers and confirmed a considerable need for reo matatini resources, along with a growing demand for structured literacy materials in te reo Māori.

He nui te mahi. Kāore e au i te mōhio kei hea kia tīmata ai. E mea ana a Matt me tīmata ki tētahi kaupapa - whakaotia tēnā katahi ka nukuhia ki tētahi anō kaupapa. He rawe tōna whakaaro! He uaua mōku te whakatakatoranga o ngā mahi ki te paetukutuku. The workload is enormous. I'm not sure where to start. Matt suggested starting with one kaupapa - finish it and then start on another kaupapa.  I am struggling with how to present the mahi on the site.

One of the key parts of the hui was sharing our prototypes with each other. It felt great to finally talk through my project and hear others’ ideas. The feedback really made me pause and think about how I’d structured the site and how I was adding content. I’ll admit, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed — worried I wouldn’t get everything done. But I was reminded that my site is a sharing hub, something that will continue to grow and evolve over time. One simple but powerful suggestion stood out: focus on developing one area well before moving to the next. That advice helped me reset my thinking and feel more confident about my direction.

2025 MIT - KPMG HUI #1

Phew! Our first visit to KPMG was an absolute highlight! Busy and packed with lots of mahi BUT we were well looked after! The day began with a chance for all of us to reconnect over breakfast at the Lawn Cafe before Justine Todd warmly welcomed us into the KPMG building. We had the pleasure of working in KPMG’s Rangiatea Infinity Room — a stunning and inspiring space that truly embodied the celestial essence of its name. It made for a fantastic day!

After introductions, we had a quick recap on our HMW's and worked through what has challenged or confronted our thinking and what has emerged to add clarity and confirmation to our thinking.

What has emerged to add clarity and confirmation to my thinking?	What has challenged or confronted my thinking?	What HMW statement am I currently confirming?
Although it affects students in the long run, really its a teacher issue and the project will support them in their planning and resourcing	Questioning whom the problem really belonged too.  Also stuck on how big and how far to go, where to start,  Wondering how to include new curriculum such as structured literacy when still in the PD phase .  Deep dive into whats already online	How might kaiako access Māori literacy content and add value to it?

Next, we started on the real nitty gritty stuff! 

 Prototyping is an essential step in the design thinking process. It includes a preliminary version of a product, service, or system. It involves testing and evaluating its effectiveness, challenging ideas and reshaping accordingly.

The main focus for today's hui was to make a start on the prototype planning phase working towards creating our first prototypes for testing and feedback. We looked at the Slidedeck Example MIT Prototype Planning and also worked through the following slides for our own MIT Prototype Planning that helped us identify potential features and solutions, narrowed in on assumptions and helped us work through the prototype planning phase.

        

In the first slide, we chose one of the ideas from our Crazy 8's and we worked on expanding on that idea. We had 8 boxes to brainstorm potential features and / or describe how different parts of the prototype will work.

My potential features included:

I appreciated this activity. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I tend to jump straight into the creation phase, thinking I know the best solution. The downside is that I often realise my solution isn't the best, get stuck and then abandon the project. This process has helped me slow down and consider all possible solutions with the user at the centre of it all. It also gave me an idea as to how I could format the site - giving each kaupapa its own page and identifying content for each page.

The solution sketch was a follow on activity to the one above. We were asked to use a combination of images and text to create a simple sketch up to show how our solution will work. My final product was:

Following these activities, we were encouraged to stand up and share our potential features and sketch solution slides to the group.  Normally when talking in front of a group I get nervous and tounged-tied but it helped that our rōpū was small and intimate. This was a valuable opportunity to receive initial feedback on my prototype. I was given some excellent ideas to consider as well as important points to check before sharing my prototype with others outside our MIT group. I know that being encouraged to talk about my prototype and being questioned will prepare me for later down the track when I'm presenting my final prototype to large groups of people.

I was inspired by Dorothy’s idea of creating a challenge for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori and / or Matariki. The goal is to get a wide range of people to contribute towards reading texts and submitting them to the site.  To encourage participation, we would create two submission portals: Te Taha Matatau for those confident in reading te reo Māori, and Te Tana Kei te Ako for those not so proficient at reading in te reo Māori. This approach would not only reduce my workload but also promote sharing, which is at the heart of the solution I’m working on. 

Another pertinent suggestion came from Matt during a later conversation where he suggested starting small and focusing on one kaupapa and making sure it is well developed before expanding and adding another subject area. I like this idea because it emphasises building a strong foundation before scaling up. This approach would allow me to focus on quality rather than quantity making it a more manageable process and easier to refine and improve before expanding.

Our next step in the prototype journey was to test our assumptions. We had to come up with 3 assumptions and ideas as to how we can test these assumptions. 

I found this task particularly helpful. It put me in the position of the 'user' of my prototype and forced me question why a kaiako would want to use the site. It implored me to consider how helpful the site would be kaikao and made me question WHY a kaiako would want to contribute to its effectiveness and usefulness by sharing their own planning and resources. Matt and I had a very insightful conversation about how difficult it is to get people to share - even when their is a monetary koha. We also talked about foot traffic and how difficult it is to sustain visitors returning regularly to a site long term which has given me a lot to consider and keep in mind. 

This activity actually made me a little worried and highlighted to me the need to test, test, test! It conscientised me to the importance of creating a prototype and asking people to try it out in order to gauge their opinions. By doing this, I can create a final product that is well suited to the needs of the user rather than going off my own assumptions which I will admit are not always right.

For the last activity of the day relating to prototyping , we worked on refining our assumptions about the prototype. We identified how we would test and we determined what data we would collect and how we would measure the success based on specific goals such as user satisfaction and resource effectiveness. 

My idea is to create a scaled-down version of my site with samples of planning templates and resources for teachers to use, test and give feedback via Google Forms. 

A great suggestion from Matt was to use Google Slides rather than creating a Google Site to share the initial prototype. Using this suggestion, I plan on creating two sets of slides - one with planning templates and the other with examples of resources for users to try and give feedback on.  

I plan on collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to assess the relevance and usefulness of the planning templates and resources. Testers will be asked to rate the planning templates and resources on a scale of 1-5 based on their usefulness. In addition, open-ended questions and suggestions will be gathered to gain further insights. The types of questions I plan on asking (via Google Forms) include:

What aspects of the sample planning did you find most valuable?  

What parts did you find least useful?

What you like to see added?

Would you use this planning template as part of your teaching and learning programme?

What resources did you engage with?

What aspects of the sample resources did you find most valuable?  

What did you find least useful?

Would you like to see anything added?

Would you use these sample resources as part of your teaching instruction?

I will also look into ways to track analytic data to monitor user engagement and interaction with the site  so I can see what users are going to the most and using.

The last item on the agenda today was a wero from Matt and Dorothy that encouraged the 2025 MIT cohort to work together to come up with a Cohort Logo Design that would be used to brand items such as drink bottles and t-shirts.  We were required to follow the ManaiaKalani branding, using their color palette and font guidelines.  As a group, we managed to come up with an initial sketch idea and a quick mock-up in Canva.  The next step is to work on the final creation via chat / email with the other members of the group, create a PNG / JPEG version and then share it back with Matt before 9pm Thursday April 3rd.

Today was another amazing session! It was a great opportunity to strengthen the relationships with each other, to see where everyone is at with their projects, to give and receive feedback, feedforward and encouragement.  The next step is to prepare the testing prototype and release it for testers to trial and provide feedback. The timeframe for this is really short so getting started sooner rather than later is the key!

2025 MIT - KICKSTART HUI

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” 
Sir Isaac Newton

As part of the ManaiaKalani Innovative Teacher 2025 squad, we started our year with a 3-day retreat in Kūaotunu in the Coromandel. 

Late Thursday afternoon, the 2025 MIT cohort arrived in Kūaotunu where we were warmly welcomed by Matt and Dorothy. After settling into our stunning accommodations, we kicked off the evening by enjoying a delicious dinner spread prepared by Jenny. It was the perfect opportunity to mingle and get to know one another in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere before kicking off with the first session after dinner.

After dinner, we were straight into it. Dorothy began the retreat with an inspiring presentation on Manaiakalani: A Community of Innovators. 

In this presentation, Dorothy showcased the initiatives and achievements of intrepid innovators who contributed in the early days of ManaiaKalani such as Allanah King (whom I had the privilege to meet and hear talk at a conference  - so inspirational!), Tim from Mount Aspiring, and Derek, the founder of Core Education. We learned about how their endeavors in the early days helped Manaiakalani to prosper and achieve the success they have had over the years. Dorothy also shared with us some amazing impact stories regarding teachers who have really taken on being early adopters in the world of blogging and podcasting and are using it as a catalyst for educational success. The big takeaway messages from the presentation were the principles of purpose, passion, partnership, perseverance, and proof forming the foundation for addressing educational challenges, equity, access, and change.

And lastly, to wrap up the evening, we were treated with a message from the 2023 MIT crew, offering advice for the year ahead. The most important messages I took away from the video were...

• Staying open to new ideas
• Really refining and honing in on one focus
• Seeking feedback at every step of the journey
• Test, test, test!
• Start early
• Leaning on MIT peers for support.

Our Friday sessions introduced us to Design Thinking which is a way to solve problems using a human centered process that focuses on empathy and testing different solutions to find the best one.

The first activity helped familiarise us with the concept of design thinking. In this activity, we had to roleplay being parents with diverse backgrounds within the Kōautunu School community. The context was we were attending a school meeting with the principal and the chairperson of the BoT. At this hui, we were presented with a range of challenges that the kura was facing and we had to question what the kura was doing to address these issues and offer solutions. This exercise helped us to connect with the problems from a variety of perspectives and introduced us to the idea of empathising which would help us further on in the day. 

It wasn't until we got halfway through that I realised that these were in fact OUR challenges that we had put forward in our initial interviews to be a part of MIT 2025! I thought it was a powerful way to share everyone's focus challenges and to get people's initial reactions to the problems.

Next, we had to work in pairs to create a short skit that illustrated our own problem in action. This invoked empathy for the problem which helped deepen our understanding of the issue. I worked with Zana and we both prepared 2 short skits for each of our challenges. My skit featured two teachers—one in a kura Māori and the other in a mainstream kura. They meet and talk about their weekends. The teacher from the mainstream kura describes a relaxing weekend, while the kura Māori teacher is shocked, having spent the entire weekend preparing literacy lessons—finding readers, creating resources, and uploading online mahi. When she asks her colleague how she had time to relax, she learns her friend prepped everything during a lunch break using tools like Twinkl and online reading programs. The skit highlights the inequities between resources available to mainstream and kura Māori teachers and emphasises the extra time and effort kaiako Māori must invest in delivering high-quality lessons and resources.

The above roleplays helped shift our focus to the users and consider how they might be affected. The next step in the Design Process was to create an Empathy Map. 

The process for this step is to gather as much information as possible about the problem by understanding the context and viewing the issue from the perspective of the user. We were encouraged to empathise with each user’s experience by answering four key questions:

• What does the user do?
• What does the user say?
• What does the user think?
• What does the user feel?

For my empathy maps, I focused on te taha kaiako me te taha ākonga.

Moving on from the empathy map activity, we used the following statement to hone in and really start to define the problem. I found this activity helpful as it made me realise who the true owner of the problem was and made me pinpoint what the actual needs were. This was my end statement:

Next, we moved on to "How might we turn this problem into an opportunity. My end HMW statement focused on how might kaiako access this online literacy content and also share their existing content:

The final part of this activity we were given Post-It notes and asked to peruse others' sheets and think about opportunities connected to their project using sentence starters such as... "Have you thought...". "Could you...", "Is this an opportunity to...".  

There were some really great suggestions on mine, some of which I had already started to look into, and some I had not considered

For our last session of the day, we focused on IDEATE. The activity was the Crazy 8. Coming up with 8 ideas in a short time span. Using our How Might We statements, we had to come up with 8 solutions for our problem - no matter how crazy, far fetched or left field the ideas may be! I found this activity valuable, as I tend to be someone who quickly jumps to what I believe is the best solution, without fully considering other possibilities.

We revisited this activity the following day. We had to go around and read each others' Crazy 8's and leave little round coloured stickers on our options that we favoured.  As a final round we had to go back and leave one sticker on our favourite idea from each Crazy 8 presentation.  This meant we ended up with 1 or 2 clear favourite options.

Our last session of the retreat focused on creating a list of those in our support networks using the BAR thinking tool (Bigger, Add, Remove). We were asked to make an extensive list of support people including whānau, friends, work colleagues & connections and to consider others in networks such as ManaiaKalani, Kahui Ako, RTLB, tech companies, and so on. Lastly, we were asked to add someone we could only WISH was in our support list and someone CRAZY and then we were asked to narrow down our selection. I found this activity was helpful as it helped conscientise me to whom I have in my circle and helped me identify certain people I would go to for particular reasons such as my whānau to support my wairua and hinengaro, my hoa kaimahi for testing prototypes and testing ideas, my reo matatini guru's for support with literacy ideas and my tech people to support with all my tech-y problems.

What an amazing few days! I thought we got through so much! I appreciated being guided through this design process as usually I skip all this and go straight to the creating. It made me take a step back and really consider who the stakeholders are, their needs and its made me really think through all the solutions.

I look forward to seeing everyone real soon at the first KPMG hui!