Kaupapa kōrero: My Vision and Journey - Irish Pakeha to a Bilingual Aotearoa

John is Pākehā of Irish ancestry from the mainline OʼDonnell & family in Donegal & O’Conners Kerry in Ireland. Many of his ancestors were deported in chains or exiled to Australia and the USA for being teachers of the Irish language, the Catholic religion or just proud independent Irish. His mother’s O’Connor whanau first came to NZ in the mid 1800s, his fathers O’Donnell line whanau in 1910 to escape this ethnic, religious and language persecution and many said it was important not to just reproduce the inequalities of the old world but to build something new here in Aotearoa/NZ in the Pacific. This unescapable legacy requiring Pakeha society to actively recognise and work together to build just, fairer, respectful relations with tangata whenua and a bilingual bicultural Aotearoa to be handed down has driven his work and vision for over 60 years.

John is a founding life long member of Te Reo Māori Society, VUW and TRM ki Otara which opened the first urban bilingual Unit in Aotearoa in 1981. He is a designer of the original Huarahi Māori pathway and Bilingualism- Biliteracy papers in Te Puna Wānanga School of Māori at the FoEd UoA where he is a Hon Snr Lecturer /researcher in Te Puna Wānanga School of Māori and Indigenous Studies. John is a Former HOD of the Reading Studies Department, Director of Waka Aotearoa Education Limited a NZ Biliteracy Consultancy currently running MPP/MoE contracts on Bilingualism Biliteracy & Bilingual Immersion Education. His research is on Simultaneous Biliteracy for Maori, Samoan, Tongan and French biliteracy programmes. A former Senior Lecturer School of Languages and Literacies, author and coordinator of the Dip TESSOL Bilingual Education papers, founding author of the DIP TESSOL at NSTC and the Faculty of Education UoA. John has worked on UOA / MOE/MFAT biliteracy in Samoa, AMS, Tonga, Kiribati & Cook Is and hosted Pacific staff in NZ on Foreign Affairs Education projects. He assisted the Cook Is Ministry of Education in 2006-2008 with professional development and research in Dual Medium Bilingual Education. John is the designer and consultant in the current Taumualua Biliteracy American Samoa Education project and the current Aotearoa Pasifika Bilingual /Immersion programmes under development.