Learning Media - Te Pou Taki Kõrero

In the 1990s, the Ministry of Education developed the International Languages Series in French, German, Chinese, and other languages. In 2006–08, the Ministry began to develop similar resources (now called the Learning Languages Series) for the five Pasifika languages. The first resource was for Cook Islands Māori.

The brief

The Ministry of Education required a multimedia resource with a DVD, CD, and print-medium classroom activities that would support teachers of years 7–8 who had no knowledge of teaching a second language or fluency in another language. After working on phase 1 of this project, Learning Media won the contract to develop phase 2 of the Cook Islands Māori Learning Language Series resource. 

Our solution

We created I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Māori (Teachers’ Guide and Support Materials). This was the first model for a Learning Languages Series resource in a Pasifika language.

Working with language experts and interactive media producers, we developed I-E-KO-KO! as a complete resource for teachers new to language teaching. The resource comprised 20 units of three lesson plans each; an authentic, dramatic story on DVD, set largely in the Cook Islands, with other elements linking to the lesson plans; and an audio CD that modelled pronunciation and included songs and support for the print activities.

With our knowledge of the right questions to ask about Pasifika-language resources, we worked with second-language experts to design a resource that would enable teachers to adopt the role of facilitators in the classroom, learning both with and from students. 

We are currently developing a songbook and two sets of story books for the Ministry of Education to support this resource and the Learning Languages Series resources for four other Pasifika languages – gagana Sāmoa, gagana Tokelau, vagahau Niue, and Tongan.