Most of us can remember at least one person from our schooling or education who had a strong influence and lasting impact on us. Māori tauira can benefit from having a person who can better understand and relate to them, and being Māori means you can bring a relevant, much needed and highly valuable perspective to the sector.

Education and teaching can have a much bigger impact than just on an individual level. Our communities are facing social, environmental, and economic challenges. Educators have a big opportunity to encourage tauira to explore opportunities and solutions for change. The education sector and educational approaches are changing too.  Technology, greater understanding of human behaviour and how people learn are changing the face of teaching. 

In education the pay is good, no day is the same, there are many opportunities to grow and make a difference every day and contribute to improving Māori education outcomes. There are flexible education pathways including some opportunities for distance learning for those who need to stay local.  The education sector has major shortages in many areas and this is likely to continue, so there is no shortage of jobs available which means great job security.

The sector needs passionate, determined, empathetic, skilled educators – including teachers at all levels; early childhood, primary and secondary, kaiako in kura kaupapa Māori, and immersion units, teachers assistants, learning support staff, speech language therapists, psychologists and other types of education specialists.