Course kaupapa (guiding principles)
Whanaungatanga - Whakapapa is a conceptual orientation whereby we acknowledge the intergenerational interconnectedness of all things. Flowing from our understanding of whakapapa we acknowledge the importance of building and maintaining relationships, care for each other, and working collectively.
Ako – we are all teachers and learners. We thus should always recognise the knowledge that both teachers and learners bring to learning interactions and environments. We thus acknowledge how new knowledge and understandings grow out of shared learning experiences.
Mana - The combination of our power and ability to act as well as a measure of our social standing. Our actions should acknowledge and enhance the mana of ourselves and others. There are consequences for actions that fail to do so.
Rangatiratanga - In full acknowledgement of our interconnectedness we also maintain our independence as learners and our responsibility to act as rangatira (leaders) of our learning process. Good leadership also takes account of the needs, abilities, and mana of the group.
Class responsibilities
It is the duty of everybody in the classroom to uphold the individual and collective mana of the group. Our actions, including speech, should acknowledge and enhance the mana of ourselves and others. There are consequences for actions that fail to do so. Actions that diminish the mana of others include any practice which aims at bullying, excluding, marginalizing, harassing, discriminating against, rendering insecure, exploiting, criminalizing, terrorizing, or harbouring exterminatory fantasies against an identity group of people imagined as sharing a common determining feature. Speech or actions that are, for example, knowingly racist, sexist, ableist, ageist, homophobic or transphobic are completely unacceptable in the classroom.
While free speech is a fundamental right in a democracy and we encourage respectful debate and discussion of diverse ideas, an abstract idea of free speech in general cannot and must not be used as a cover for specific instances of hateful speech or discrimination. Students in the course are expected to respect all other students and staff. If you witness hate speech or discrimination you are encouraged to raise this with the lecturer, your tutor or the University Proctor.