
What is mana reo?
In education, mana reo often refers to communication skills and, as such, lends itself directly to discussion of literacy and numeracy skills development.
Both of these help describe a learner-centred teaching environment.
Communication
Mana reo means developing communication skills. Mana reo is literally the mana of language. This means the power or authority of language and communication.
For Māori, language (particularly the Māori language), prestige, land ownership, and culture are intimately connected.
Mana reo helps describe a learner-centred teaching environment because it means developing the communication skills that learners need.
Literacy and numeracy
Mana reo also means means developing literacy and numeracy skills for all kinds of purposes. It includes being expressive and creative, and covers verbal and non-verbal forms of communication.
Questions to help you reflect on mana reo
- What do you do to develop your learners’ understanding of how to ‘read’ and respond to the world around them?
- What opportunities do you create for others to speak or use Te Reo Māori in your classroom or teaching environment?
- What literacy and numeracy skills are you helping to develop?
How can you use mana reo to create learner success?
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What is Learner-Centred Teaching – 12 Concepts from Te Ao Māori You Should Embrace to Create Learning Success

Discover time-honoured approaches to learner-centred teaching
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Find out more about three of the fundamentals of adult teaching
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Education is a tough business to work in. And that’s true regardless of whether you are a teacher, a trainer or any kind of specialist educator. But what if you’re a business owner AS WELL…!
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