Whanaungatanga, teaching and connecting through responsibility and place

In this article, we share our teaching and learning reflections by discussing how placing whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging) at the heart of an open entry-level course shaped a teaching and learning model that decolonises, disrupts, and denaturalises the usual transactional mode of Eurocentric university education. As Māori (Indigenous peoples of New Zealand) and Pacific educators, we teach through and with a holistic, connected view of our world and our place in it, even more so at a time when it is urgent that our students understand and act to protect the place upon which they stand. The philosophy of whanaungatanga determined how we connected to each other and our students, holding the goals of the course together. As whanaungatanga determined how we acted and interacted in each facet of the course, it in turn supported students to connect to their place in Aotearoa New Zealand and, significantly, their shared responsibilities to peoples, communities, and environments of the Pacific.