Tagata Moana Trust is a Christchurch not-for-profit dedicated to advancing STEAM education for children through connection to Pacific history, arts and culture.
STEAM education is an integrated approach to teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths through practical application and creative ways of bringing these disciplines to life.
Tagata Moana - based at Pacific Hub Fale Eke in central Christchurch - delivers events and programmes throughout the South Island, which aim to increase the representation of Pacific people in STEAM fields. One of these programmes is Mana Tamaiti.
“We are all about growing Pacific futures in STEAM,” says Nina Oberg-Humphries, Executive Director at Tagata Moana Trust.
“Mana Tamaiti is an in-school programme, directed for children aged anywhere from two to about 14 years old, where we either go into schools or they come to us here at Fale Eke.
“The key goal of Mana Tamaiti is to spark interest in our kids, in STEAM fields. To build skills, but most of all, understand that our cultural ways of being, our history, our practices, are STEAM.”
Nina adds that Pacific people make up just 2.8 percent of individuals working in STEAM fields yet they’re the fastest growing, most sustainable, and (on average) higher-paid roles globally.
She says it’s essential children and their families see roles in these fields as something to pursue so that Pacific people can be part of conversations and decision-making, but most of all, to “propel our history, our culture, our language, our identity, forward into the future”.
Tagata Moana delivers curriculum-aligned lessons that take cultural components - for example Pacific histories, arts, and culture – and integrate them with STEAM skills such as design-thinking or coding. As part of the Mana Tamaiti programme, children participate in these lessons and use devices to create their patterns and designs. From there, designs are transferred to take-home items like tote bags or laser-cut engravings on wood.
“We use Pacific arts, language and culture to be able to drive better outcomes in STEAM," says Poasa Alaifea, Partnerships Lead at Tagata Moana Trust.
“And so what we do is we take our ancestral roots - that being the patterns – and then we implement or introduce things like digital technologies.”
Poasa says Pacific children in New Zealand face many barriers, including a lack of access to their language and culture, and equity barriers such as the digital divide meaning students struggle to access the internet and devices which are important in today’s learning environments.
Tagata Moana has created a ‘device distribution pipeline’ to bridge the digital divide for young people and get refurbished devices into Pacific households that need them.
“Pacific people represent the worst statistics. We are actively trying to change that,” adds Nina.
“It is through active community engagement that meets our community where they are, where we start to see differences [and] results, so that we can change that narrative. Driven by us, for us.”
Tagata Moana opened Pacific Hub Fale Eke in 2022 as a centre for events, lessons, workshops and meetings. It is also home to the South Island’s first Pacific art gallery, showcasing the work of under-represented artists.
Since opening Fale Eke, Tagata Moana has had over 46,000 Pacific visits and more than 8000 Pacific people have participated in their programmes.
Student participant Ayesha enjoys the environment at Fale Eke and connecting to her Fijian heritage.
“Most of my family live in Fiji, and being here helps me connect to my culture and Fiji and my grandparents,” says Ayesha.
Rātā Foundation supports Tagata Moana Trust through the South Island funder’s ‘Participate’ funding focus area. This helps the Trust to provide a qualified educator and the resources required to deliver the Mana Tamaiti programme in as many schools as possible.
“Rātā wants to see more people participating in activities that celebrate and embrace culture because we know connection to culture improves health and wellbeing in communities,” says Leighton Evans, Chief Executive of Rātā Foundation.
“Tagata Moana is actively removing barriers for Pacific learners, ensuring more young people see their culture and identity reflected in the classroom, and promoting better outcomes in STEAM.”
For more information about Tagata Moana Trust, including how to support their work, visit the website: https://www.tagatamoana.com/