Recently appointed to Kaihautū (Director) for Te Whare Whakaakoranga at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Rangi Te Whiu Jury has been a student, a kaiāwhina and a staff member for the past eight years. He lives at Ōtaki Beach with his wife Mereana and adult children, son Tihirua and daughter Oriwa. 

Rangi Te Whiu’ principal iwi is Ngāti Raukawa, his hapū is Ngāti Takihiku, and his marae is Kereru. This is on his dad’s side where he is an active member of the iwi, hapū and marae. When asked about his iwi, he was reminded by something Iwikatea Nicholson shared with him, “Me rongo koe i to pirau/pīhau”. When he asked what it meant, he was advised that many of our akonga want to acknowledge all their connections, however it’s not until your people can see you and smell you, that you can claim the right to say you are Ngāti whoever. You need to be active at your marae and amongst your people to make these claims.” This resonated with Rangi Te Whiu. By his whakapapa, he is more Ngāti Kahungunu than anything else. He has started to connect more with this side. 

When Rangi Te Whiu lost his mother 22 years ago his father said to him, “You speak for me now”. His dad did not have te reo Māori, and as Rangi Te Whiu was on this journey of te reo Māori this was his reasoning. Two years later he lost his dad. 

Born in 1975 and brought up in Wainuiomata. Rangi Te Whiu attended Jack and Jill Kindergarten, the Glendale Primary School, Wainuiomata Intermediate, and Wainuiomata College. He remembers overt racism by teachers, and “being saved” by others. A pivotal moment in his life was when his mother heard from him of the racist treatment he and others were subjected to at Glendale Primary. She visited the school and following that he was enrolled into the bilingual unit at Wainuiomata Intermediate. There he came across Lorraine Bristowe, Anne Rikiriki, Sophie Tukukino and Sharmaine Luke. They were the teachers who introduced him to Te Ao Māori and where he started to learn te reo. 

Racism escalated when Rangi Te Whiu attended Wainuiomata College. He recalls, “There were about 80 of us on our first day. The dean said, ‘Put your hand up if you are a Māori’ and so we all did. ‘Okay, stand up.’ We all stood up and she spun around and said, ‘I can guarantee that by the end of this year half of you will not be here, and if you are here, we will make sure that by the end of the fourth form you won’t be here.’ That’s how bad it was! At intermediate we had lived two years of being Māori and celebrating being Māori and then that! There was a group of us who made a pact to make it through 7th Form. It was hard but we did make it. That dean wasn’t the only teacher who made it difficult for us, but the ones who saved us were the Māori teachers, Hera McMinnamin nee Manuel, Hine Taitoko and Leo Te Kira.” 



Rangi Te Whiu completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) at Victoria University of Wellington in 1997. He later enrolled with Te Wānanga o Raukawa completing a Poutuarongo Whakaakoranga (Bachelor of Teaching (Bilingual) in 2002, a Poutāhū Whakaakoranga (Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Māori Medium) in 2011 and a Tāhuhu Whakaakoranga (Master of Education, Māori Medium) in 2014. A triumph over adversity and racism. 

For anyone looking to enrol in teacher training qualifications with Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Rangi Te Whiu and team are dedicated to producing outstanding teachers who not only transfer knowledge but are committed to raising the potential of Māori learners at every level of education in Aotearoa. 

He manawa tītī (A person with great endurance) 

For more information about the Whakaakoranga courses visit https://www.wananga.com