小优传媒

Challenge

In 2022, Watercare decided to create a te reo and tikanga M膩ori learning programme for their team. Learning Business Partner Michael Power explains, 鈥淚t's part of our values to embed te reo and tikanga M膩ori throughout the company. We're a council organisation and Auckland Council is committed to promoting M膩ori culture. So, we want to lead the way by seeing and hearing te reo M膩ori throughout Watercare and honouring tikanga M膩ori.鈥�

鈥淥ur M膩ori outcomes team, Te Rua Whet奴, asked if I could support the project from a learning point of view. I helped them with a learning needs analysis, put structures in place to have regular check-ins and helped them find a learning design partner in 小优传媒.鈥�

The Watercare team works in locations as diverse as their head office in Newmarket to their laboratories, and water and wastewater treatment plants. This means the learning programme has to be ultra accessible for anyone, anywhere, anytime. 

Michael says, 鈥淓verything must be easy to access and easy to absorb. We can't make the programme too difficult because many people, me included, are starting off with a very basic knowledge of te reo and tikanga M膩ori. We鈥檝e a lot of people at Watercare who didn't go to school in New Zealand, weren't brought up with te reo, and who have English as their second language. And that adds another layer of difficulty when it comes to learning a new language.鈥�

Solution

Watercare鈥檚 akoranga, or learning programme, is the start of a kete of resources Watercare will build over time. The programme consists of two eLearning modules, podcasts, and videos. The eLearning is designed as apps, so learners can access the info they need instantly, anywhere. The apps contain audio, giving the learners the chance to hear the sounds of the M膩ori language, as well as waiata and karakia. While the podcast and videos show learners how their fellow kaimahi, or workers, are bringing te reo and tikanga M膩ori into Watercare. 

The introductory piece of Watercare鈥檚 new programme is critical to set the scene. Aaron says, 鈥淲e wanted to give a really great introduction because everyone鈥檚 at a different stage of their journey towards using te reo and tikanga M膩ori. Some are even resistant to start. So, we wanted to set the scene, explain what Watercare expects, and give people tools to begin that journey, in the form of a multimodal resource they could come back to many times.鈥�

With only a fraction of Watercare staff in an office, and many people out in the field or at treatment plants, a multi-layered, mobile-friendly learning programme is essential. There鈥檚 a strong audio component to the programme because when you鈥檙e teaching a language, spoken pronunciation is key. There are also audio files of waiata, so people can sing along and learn the words, as well recordings of karakia. If people need a quick reminder of how to do their mihi, or a waiata or karakia for a meeting, those resources are at their fingertips.

The learning material and the learning approach were developed in collaboration with Michael, Te Rua Whet奴, and Auckland Council鈥檚 reo M膩ori specialist Nikora Wharerau. 

Michael explains this wasn鈥檛 always straightforward. 鈥淥ur thinking on the programme content and the learning approach evolved as we worked on the programme. So, 小优传媒 has had to be very flexible to meet those needs. But they鈥檝e been unbelievably willing to do that. They've been uber accommodating and I've been so impressed by that. I rate the way 小优传媒 collaborate and partner exceptionally highly.鈥�