Tania Ka'ai

Tania M. Ka'ai, sometimes known as Tania Kaai-Oldman, is a New Zealand education academic. She is a full professor of language revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology.

Academic career

Ka'ai earned a 1995 education PhD from the University of Waikato, with a thesis titled ' Te tātari i te kaupapa' , which looked at ways the New Zealand qualifications framework could be used as a tool for indigenous knowledge to be integrated and recognised as a valid part of the education system in New Zealand. After working at the University of Otago, from which she was stood down in contentious circumstances, Ka'ai moved to the Auckland University of Technology with John Moorfield.

Ka'ai's research is centred on learning of indigenous languages (particularly te reo) in formal and semi-formal educational settings. She is a strong advocate for te reo being compulsory in New Zealand schools.

Selected works Ka'ai, Tania. Introduction to Māori culture and society. Longman, 2004. Ka'ai, Tania M., and Rawinia Higgins. "Te ao Māori–Māori world-view." Ki Te Whaiao–An Introduction to Māori Culture and Society. Auckland: Pearson Education (2004): 13–25. Jenkins, Kuni, and Tania Ka’ai. "Maori education: A cultural experience and dilemma for the state–a new direction for Maori society." The politics of learning and teaching in Aotearoa–New Zealand (1994): 79–148. Ka’ai, Tania. "Te hiringa taketake: Mai i te Kohanga Reo i te kura= Maori pedagogy: te Kohanga Reo and the transition to school." MSc Thesis, ResearchSpace@ Auckland, 1990. Ka'ai, Tania. "Te mana o te reo me ngā tikanga: Power and politics of the language." (2004).

Personal life Ka'ai is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Native Hawaiian, Cook Island Māori, and Samoan descent.