Christ’s College duo teaches te reo Māori to students in India
24 Mar 2025
Christ’s College students Jack Gorrie and Alfie McLean have been teaching te reo Māori online to students in India. Both Jack and Alfie have made the most of the international connections of Round Square to introduce students from the British Co-Ed High School in India to te reo Māori and “helped more people to develop stronger connections with the basic fundamentals of the language”.
Round Square is a community of more than 260 schools in 50 countries that collaborates on character education.
The Year 11 students’ six-week teaching programme follows the success of the online Māori Language Lab sessions hosted by College in 2024.
“During each lesson, we begin with a karakia to set the tone of our hui. We then dive into a recap of the previous lesson,” they explain. “Along the way, we introduce new phrases and sentences, ending each lesson with a kahoot! for the class.
“Throughout our sessions, we have discovered a lot about our own use of te reo, planning, and how to engage learners. With our recaps, we ensure that students have a thorough understanding of the lessons and also fix any mispronunciations.”
The British Co-Ed High School students have proved to be quick te reo learners.
“This class was great and very fast at picking up te reo Māori, allowing us to dive deeper into different concepts,” Jack and Alfie say. “From learning how to count to 10, asking ‘How are you?’, and even talking about Te Whare Tapa Whā – a Māori health model based on the concepts of whānau (family), tinana (physical), hinengaro (mental), and wairua (spiritual) health – the class has stayed committed and fully involved in this programme.”
Explaining that te reo is increasingly used in a wide range of learning, business, and community gatherings, the boys point out that the ability to perform a pepeha – explaining personal connections – has become a common skill.
“With this in mind, the students in India were eager to develop their own pepeha, which they confidently performed in front of us. This was a particularly special moment for us as we formed a strong sense of connection with the students.”
For Jack and Alfie, the sessions have “given us both a great opportunity to learn and grow our leadership skills” while sharing te reo Māori in a global way.
