Several years ago, staff members in the Department of Physics were considering ways to increase the number of Māori studying physics and identified secondary school as a potential point to encourage more Māori participation. They met with Māori academics, with the aim of creating physics resources written in te reo Māori and informed by te ao Māori – forming the Rauemi Pūtaiao research group.
Rauemi Pūtaiao researchers have been meeting with secondary teachers who were at the University attending the Otago University Advanced School Science Academy (OUASSA). These teachers have emphasised how few science resources there are in Māori, the difficulty many schools have finding teachers with a background in physics and that, even in total immersion Kura Kaupapa, most students that took physics had to learn it in English.
As a result of these meetings, the Department of Physics provided funding that allowed the translation of an internal assessment one of the teachers had created. The next steps are to assess the uptake and usefulness of this resource and to develop more resources.
