American educational researchers honour academics

American educational researchers honour husband and wife academics

Whakatāne, 14 March 2014 - The CEO of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith, has been made a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in recognition of his contribution to educational research.

The AERA award acknowledges Distinguished Professor Smith’s notable and sustained research achievements. Distinguished Professor Smith’s wife Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Porou) has also been named a 2014 fellow. Professor Linda Smith is Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori, Professor of Education and Māori Development and Dean of the School of Māori and Pacific Development at Awanuiārangi partner institution the University of Waikato.

The Smiths are the only New Zealanders on a list of 22 international scholars to be inducted into the 2014 class of AERA. Their formal induction takes place on April 4 in Philadelphia.

“We are pleased to honour these individuals for their significant contributions to education research and to the advancement of the field,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “AERA Fellows exemplify the best of research in terms of accomplishment, quality, mentoring, and the highest professional standards. We welcome the class of 2014 to these ranks.”

Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith (Ngāti Porou, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu) has worked for many years in the field of Māori and indigenous education as an educator and researcher and is recognised internationally for his contribution to indigenous education initiatives in New Zealand and abroad. One of the key educational activists at the forefront of Kura Kaupapa Māori developments, he was the first teacher of a Māori immersion kura kaupapa Māori school, taking leave without pay for a year to model a Kura Kaupapa Māori. He maintains a strong interest in the Māori language revitalisation movement. A specialist field is institutional transformations in order to deliver more effectively to, and for the interests of, indigenous students, faculty and communities.

He was the foundation chairperson of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Council for five years, and has been the CEO/Vice-Chancellor of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi for the past five years. A regular contributor to national and international forums on indigenous education issues, he has worked extensively in international indigenous development with Māori and other indigenous/First Nations communities across the world, including Canada, Norway, India, China, Micronesia, Fiji, Hawaii, Alaska, US mainland, Taiwan, Chile, Australia and the Pacific nations.

Distinguished Professor Smith held the Distinguished Chair in Indigenous Education at the University of British Columbia in Canada for five years. During his time there he was involved in First Nations educational development including language revitalisation initiatives and the highly successful SAGE graduate student mentoring programme, which was used across a number of university institutions in Canada.

He is Chair of Te Tau Ihu o Ngā Wānanga (the co-ordinating structure for the wānanga sector), is a former chair of the Bay of Plenty Tertiary Partnership executive, and he led and organised a successful bid to establish Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga, a National Research Centre of Excellence. He was Principal International Research Fellow at the University of Sydney from 2011-2013, and he has also been co-director of the Woolf Fisher Research Centre at The University of Auckland, and Deputy Chair of New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

In 2005, Distinguished Professor Smith was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from Okanagan University College, and in 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Northern British Columbia. Both honorary doctorates were awarded in recognition of his work in Canada with institutions and First Nations peoples.

ENDS

© Scoop Media