Ms Kay-Lee Jones received her national award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching 鈥 Kaupapa M膩ori category in September 2020.
Kay-Lee Jones is a teacher of teachers,聽committed to 鈥渉elping grow a heart for聽te聽Ao聽M膩ori鈥. The Board Chair of Te聽P膩聽o聽R膩kaihaut奴聽describes her as 鈥渁 great role model not only for her wh膩nau but all who meet her.鈥澛犅
What sets Kay-Lee apart is the way she radiates two important qualities. She personifies manaakitanga as she uplifts and empowers her 鈥榢aiako聽艒聽膩p艒p艒鈥, and deeply embodies whanaungatanga, stating that 鈥測ou can empower teachers holistically to be strong in a M膩ori and a聽P膩keh膩聽world by really getting to know them.鈥澛犅
鈥淚 made the choice to learn te reo M膩ori. I love it and will always be a learner. I love teaching the history of our land and seeing a spark in those I teach from connecting with language, culture and identity.鈥
One 膩konga describes how she 鈥渂uilds a strong sense of whanaungatanga through her enactment of the learner/teacher duality of聽ako. This is undertaken in a way that seeks to聽akiaki聽the mana of the individual learner鈥︹澛
Kay-Lee understands the importance of her work, inspiring her future teachers to also value聽culturally-relevant聽spaces, to normalise this in their teaching practices and to embellish this in their children鈥檚 futures. This is espoused in the聽whakatauk墨聽that closely relates to her teaching, 鈥減oipoi膩聽te聽k膩kano聽kia聽pu膩wai ai 鈥 nurture the seed and it will blossom鈥.聽
