Learning Māori in the workplace: non-Māori learners’ assessment of the value of te reo

Abstract

ABSTRACT In New Zealand, te reo Māori (or just te reo) is currently being learned as a second language by record numbers of non-Māori, many of whom are increasingly able to access it through language courses offered by their employing organisations. Considering recent research and policy advocating the value of te reo for all New Zealanders, workplace courses of the language represent important new spaces for the development of normalising discourses and initiatives. Drawing on a small-scale qualitative study, we examine how the value of te reo is understood by adult non-Māori staff who choose to learn it at a New Zealand university. We find that the learners assess te reo according to categories of value that exist in close relation to one another as part of personal systems of value, within which organisational discourses about te reo are integrated. The language is perceived as valuable not only in instrumental terms for the participants' professional life, but as a meaningful symbol of national identity, of exemplary citizenship, and of their responsibility toward creating a more harmonious society. Overall, the study provides preliminary evidence of the potential contribution of workplace courses of te reo for its wider normalisation across New Zealand.