Tania Ka'ai


Tania M. Ka'ai, sometimes known as Tania Kaai-Oldman, is a New Zealand Education academic. She is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Native Hawaiian, Cook Island Māori, and Sāmoan descent and 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 thesis titled ' Te tātari i te kaupapa' , 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, Ka'ai moved to the Auckland University of Technology with John Moorfield.
Ka'ai's research is centred on learning of indigenous languages in formal and semi-formal educational settings. She is a strong advocate for te reo being compulsory in New Zealand schools.

Selected works