Apple's Alisha Johnson Wilder on an education programme expanded to reach 5000 students at schools with high Māori and Pasifika rolls - and a Maps upgrade. Video / Cameron Pitney
Apple is expanding a technology training and hardware initiative to cover around 5000 students and 100 teachers across 22 schools with high Māori and Pasifika rolls.
The tech firm has also today started to rollout an upgrade to its Maps app that introduces borderless depictions of indigenous and iwi landacross across Australia and New Zealand, more dual-language place names and place cards for marae.
The first wave of a “training the trainers” programme launched with Te Pūkenga seeing teachers at schools including Rutherford College, Waitakere College and Kelston Boys’ High get training and support for using technology in education, plus Apple devices, as the tech giant introduced its its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to NZ two years ago.
“For Tūhourangi, this partnership with Apple Maps is more than just a technological collaboration — it reflects our role as kaitiaki (caretakers), ensuring the protection and accurate representation of our cultural heritage" - Annie Balle.
“We saw a real opportunity here to support efforts to increase access to opportunity for Māori and Pacifika students, and we know that there’s a gap in that access to the tech sector, and education can be a really important pathway to bridging that gap,” Apple senior director, environment, policy and social initiatives Alisha Johnson Wilder said during a visit to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Māia earlier this week.
“And so we started partnering with Te Pūkenga in 2023 and they’ve been a really impactful partner. And what we did was start with 10 Māori immersion schools, where we are equipping educators with the critical skills that they need to prepare students with digital skilling.
“Based on the strength of that partnership and feedback that we received from the teachers and from the students, we’re really excited to expand that partnership to 12 additional Māori immersion schools, and through that expansion we are aiming to reach about 5000 students, and we’re hoping to see about 100 teachers go through that credentialing programme.”
The 12 additional schools are in Northland.
“We see this as an important way to use technology to really help to equip students with all of the skills that they need to enter into the growing tech sector here in New Zealand.”
Digital equity and inclusion programmes have recently been under siege in the US, but the New York Times recently singled out Apple and Costco as two rare holdouts. Apple’s board and shareholders both rebuffed bids to water-down its DEI initiatives.
“As the legal landscape around these issues evolves, we may need to make some changes to comply, but our North Star of dignity and respect for everyone and our work to that end will never waver,” chief executive Tim Cook said.
The Apple Maps upgrade being rolled out from today has been two years in the making.
At the partnership’s launch, then Te Pūkenga chief executive Peter Winder noted that Māori, as 17% of the population, make up just 4% of the technology-related workforce, while Pacific peoples - around 8% of the population - filled just 2.8% of tech jobs, according to MBIE figures.
Programmes that drew more Māori and Pasifika students towards technology were a potential double win: They could lift the prospects of pupils at low-decile schools, and help address NZ’s ongoing shortage of tech talent, Winder said. (Te Pūkenga was created in 2020 as the previous Government brought 25 vocational polytechs under a single umbrella. The current Government pledged to return to a decentralised structure, but close to halfway through its term has yet to reveal plans for an unwind.)
“Thanks to this partnership, I have gained confidence in my teaching practice, knowing that I can integrate the latest technology without feeling stuck in the past,” said Anihera Black, a teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kotuku i West Auckland.
“Not only am I using these tools to support my cultural practice, but I am also teaching kids how to utilise the latest technology, particularly in Keynote, to enhance their learning and creativity.”
Representing indigenous lands in Apple Maps
“Beginning today, Apple Maps now displays indigenous lands in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand,” Apple says.
“By gathering information from indigenous advisers, cartographers, traditional owners, language holders, and community members, Apple Maps will show reserves and indigenous protected areas, indigenous place names, traditional country, and dual-language labels. Indigenous lands place cards feature information about the local area and traditional owners, and can be curated to allow communities to add their own photos, destinations on their land, and text in their own language.
“Representation of indigenous lands in Apple Maps provides users with a more comprehensive experience while also recognising the stories and significance behind them.
“In New Zealand, Apple worked closely with indigenous cartographers and several iwi to develop detailed place cards and map icons, including one for marae.”
“For Tūhourangi, this partnership with Apple Maps is more than just a technological collaboration — it reflects our role as kaitiaki (caretakers), ensuring the protection and accurate representation of our cultural heritage,” said Annie Balle from Tūhourangi iwi.
“By bringing our stories to a global audience, we can uphold our narratives, safeguard our data sovereignty, and demonstrate how Indigenous knowledge and technology can work together to promote cultural understanding and sustainability.”
“We’re trying to create the best Maps experience for our users. And we think a huge part of that is they understand the significance of indigenous land,” Johnson Wilder said.
Apple had followed a similar model earlier efforts in the US, working with local iwi to tap their expertise.
Extending community grants
Beyond its expanded Te Pūkenga partnership, Apple said it had extended community grants to:
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, a Māori iwi based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), and partners in the Revive Our Gulf project. The project helps restore the mussel reefs of the Hauraki Gulf, improve water quality, stabilise the seafloor, and restore biodiversity.
Te Karanga, an organisation that supports young people excluded from mainstream education, and its Creative Pathways programme. The programme focuses on career exploration, entrepreneurship, and creativity for young people from the Māori and Pasifika communities.
Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, a Māori iwi from the North Island, and its seaweed hatchery and carbon sequestration research project.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
