Secondary School Teacher – Kaiako Kura Tuarua
“Māori are kinesthetic and visual learners. For education to work for Māori, how we teach stuff needs to change. Some teachers still operate like “turn your page to 56 and do questions eight to 20”. But that doesn’t really work for a lot of our young people.”
– Bevan Matene, Secondary School Teacher
About this career
Secondary School Teachers plan, prepare and teach students from Y9-13, ages 13-18 in secondary schools.
Personal qualities you need:
- Great communication skills and ability to communicate with and understand rangatahi and whānau from diverse backgrounds
- Leadership, time management and team skills
- Ability to work under well pressure
- Creative thinking and problems solving
- Passion, enthusiasm and patience for working with young people
Career Pathway
Find out more about training in a career as a Secondary School Teacher here:
https://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs-database/education-and-social-sciences/education/secondary-school-teacher/
https://www.teachnz.govt.nz/studying-to-be-a-teacher/getting-qualified/
https://teachfirstnz.org/get-involved/our-flagship-programme
Our Whānau Career Story
Bevan Matene, Secondary School Teacher
Where do I work and what do I do?
Teacher, HoD Māori, HoF Arts and Languages
What was my career pathway to get where I am / and what led me to this?
My career pathway into education goes right back to the influence of Buster Walden (a former lecturer who graduated from Teachers College in the 1950s). Buster said I should have gone into teaching. I said, “don’t be silly, that’s the last thing I wanted to do!”. So, he gave me the idea. But it wasn’t until about 20 odd years later that I did.
I trained through Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki. It was bilingual teaching and is a Māori provider. I really enjoyed it down there, and it sort of opened my eyes to Te Ao Māori. I completed my Tohu in 2010. Before that sport was my life – I went around the world, through rugby and softball. I was playing softball in America, and Barry Finch, Principal of Spotswood College got hold of me. He asked me if I wanted to come back as a Māori mentor/teacher for the kura.
I’d had a number of jobs and all the rest of it, but the enjoyment of just helping youth really appealed to me and I took it on. I worked in college as a teacher aide and sports coordinator and then kept going. I worked at Huirangi Primary school and then as a deputy principal at Waitara East School. It’s been a whirlwind to journey – 12 years in education with my tohu, but if you include educating people to play sport and other things it has been quite a quite a long time.
“My why” for doing this job and making a difference for Māori
Māori are kinesthetic and visual learners. For education to work for Māori, how we teach stuff needs to change. Some teachers still operate like “turn your page to 56 and do questions eight to 20”. But that doesn’t really work for a lot of our young people. You can still deliver it in other ways that do work. You don’t have to do it on paper. Kids today come with diverse educational abilities, and you have to be able to cater for them in your classroom. As they say, “what’s good for Māori is good for everyone”.
For anyone interested in teaching as a career I tell them learn to live life first. Go and enjoy life and then decide whether that’s what you want to do. Teaching isn’t the right option for everyone. Schools, especially secondary schools, tend to try to push youth towards a university education but it doesn’t work for everybody. Rangatahi need to do what works best for them.
Understanding how kids work is key. I think these days you need life skills behind you before you come into teaching, to walk into teaching straight out of school is a tough ask. It’s a good time to come in when you’re a bit older and you’ve got more experience. Mind you, studying is like anything, there’s a time and place when you’re ready to go and learn and do some study – that’s the time to go.
In my mahi I’ve been able to use those skills that have been passed down to me from my parents and my grandparents -that has led me on the way.
What I do now in my teaching is also really helping young people to see the future, to see what’s possible for them, and supporting them on their journey. Everyone has hiccups, but it’s supporting them to make sure that they are still heading in the right direction. Education is ongoing – so it’s giving young people that understanding that they’re going to continue to live and learn for the rest of their lives!
