Abstract
Over the past 40 or so years, a small sub-sector of state-funded education has developed in Aotearoa New Zealand, in which the language medium is te reo Māori (the Māori language). Te reo Māori became an endangered language as a result of British colonization and schooling from about 1800 onwards, declining by the mid-1970s to a point where intergenerational transmission had almost completely stopped. Today, Māori medium graduates and their children are growing up as new generations of Māori people, equipped with skills to contribute positively to Māori society and futures and the wider world. The efforts required to support these developments reflect the strong aspirations of Māori people for the survival and restoration of te reo Māori and Māori culture for future generations. This article presents a high-level overview of Māori medium education and its contribution to the revitalization of te reo Māori by focusing on four sequential stages of its growth and evolution: early childhood, school, tertiary, and doctoral studies.
