Mary Jackson and Cherisse Newbold at the Tai Tokerau Faculty of Education Graduation celebration. Photo / Tania Whyte
The Faculty of Education graduation for Tai Tokerau Campus of the University of Auckland is always exciting, says the dean, but when you are the first one to graduate in your family, it becomes "very special".
Clicks and claps followed the crowd of about 50 graduands (now graduates) and leaders as they marched from Laurie Hall park to Forum North on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the graduation ceremony.
"It is always lovely to see so much involvement from the community in this faculty," said the dean of education Mark Barrow.
"At all levels, the schooling system really needs good teachers.
"The whole cry we constantly hear in Northland is 'where are the teachers?' That's why having a base in Whangārei and having graduating teachers in Northland is actually one way we hope they stay here.
"... and it is exactly what's happening. A lot of the graduates have already secured teaching jobs in schools across the region."
Tai Tokerau campus director Maia Hetaraka said the real bonus for this region's graduates was the ability to deliver education across mediums.
"The beauty of Tai Tokerau campus is because we have both English-medium and Huarahi Māori students, they have been educated to be able to deliver a broad curriculum.
"They can either teach in mainstream education or kura kaupapa Māori, and that's really a bonus for our region."
The Advocate spoke to some of the fresh graduates to learn about their journeys and experience, and while their journeys were quite different, the overwhelming feeling of celebration remained consistent.
Tania Cliffe-Tautari has been in education for more than 20 years and with the help of her PhD findings, wants to bring the focus on education as a means to address youth crime.
As part of her study, Cliffe-Tautari said she was fortunate to work with Nga Puhi's social services and examined their Mahuru program – the first-of-its-kind, one-to-one specialised remand care service.
"One of the things that came out of the study was the need to look into a workforce that has a specialised skillset working with these young people."
Cliffe-Tautari created a workforce character profile that gave an indication to social service providers as well as other education providers of some of the skillsets of people who work with these young people able to make some of the big changes.
"Education is a big focus.
"What do we do when these young people get kicked out of school? Where do they go from there?
"We need to have more pathways for educational success so that they can make meaningful contributions to our society."
Across all her interviews- (with whanau members, youth, the social services, among others - Cliffe-Tautari found school was a common thread.
"School does not see them as a justice issue, they present them as challenging behaviour.
"Because when they get kicked out, where do they go? There are things that can be done on the preventative end."
Bazil Hauraki proudly held his Master in Education degree in hand as he recollected the Zoom lessons at the back of his delivery truck.
Hauraki got his first teacher's degree in 2017, but soon made the big shift to chase his "boyhood dream of owning a truck" by starting a transport business.
However, not long after he left teaching, Hauraki realised his calling to make a difference in a kid's and their family's life.
Getting a master's degree was a tough journey and a lot of long working days for Hauraki as he juggled studying and running his business.
"I did four papers online and the Zoom classes were at 4pm.
"I was doing night shifts at the transport business, so I would start at 1-1.30pm and quarter to 4 where I was, I would always park my truck at one of my customers so I could use the internet.
"I would park up, change my clothes, sit in the back of the truck, attend the Zoom classes for a couple of hours and then drive down to Auckland to complete the deliveries."
Hauraki did this for two semesters where his day would start at just after noon and finish at 2am.
"The greatest thing that has helped me get through the tough time was their belief in us because I didn't believe in myself sometimes."
Bachelor of Education graduate Mary Jackson's graduation was "very special" as her family from far and near came to celebrate the first graduate in three generations.
Jackson's class was in the second year of university when the teaching transitioned from in class to online and it would help her as a teacher to adapt to different teaching models.
"As students, we struggled because it was our learning time, but now that we know it, we can put that into our teaching.
"For me, the biggest and most important tool I will be taking to the classrooms is the ability to build relationships with the kids."
Jackson said qualifications spoke loud and with her degree, she now was privileged to be a lot more on the inside of the education system.
"I grew up in a big family and watched my big family go through the education system. I knew I could do a better job than what I was seeing, but I could not make that change from the outside, I had to be inside the system.
"There is a massive gap in the way we cater to some of our minorities and Northland is where I want to start supporting that change."