Dr Hazel Abraham

Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Rangitihi, Whakatōhea

Contact Details:

Phone: +64 9 921 999 extn 28466
Email: hazel.abraham@aut.ac.nz

Qualifications:

Dip Primary Tchg, BEd, MEdLm, PhD, Cert Te Pōkaitahi Reo (Reo Rua/Te Kaupae 3) & Cert Te Pōkaitahi (Reo Rua/Te Kaupae 4)

Research Areas:

Māori educational success in mainstream education systems and STEM, Educational Leadership and Management, Intergenerational cultural trauma, Māori wellbeing

Selected Publications:

Abraham, H. (2023). The dual journey of navigating the ‘awa of higher education’ by a Māori doctoral candidate at Auckland University of Technology. Rangahau Aranga: AUT Graduate Review,2(1). https://doi.org/10.24135/rangahau-aranga.v2i1.141

Abraham, H. (2022). Learning about the awa: My reflective journey of admission into a doctoral programme at Auckland University of Technology. Rangahau Aranga: AUT Graduate Review,1(2). https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/rangahau-aranga/article/view/88/65

Ka’ai, T., Smith-Henderson, T., Abraham, H., & Hellesoe, L. (2022, 14 March). Te Hiringa Taketake: A literature review. Creating a Māori and Pacific student virtual online mentoring programme in Te Ara Auaha, Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies. Te Ipukarea, Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology.

Abraham, H. (2021). Iti noa ana, he pitomata: A critical analysis of educational success through a Māori lens and two case studies of whānau within Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa (Doctoral thesis, Auckland University of Technology). http://hdl.handle.net/10292/14445

Abraham-O’Leary, H. (2015). Leading learning for Māori students: The challenges of leadership for teaching principals in small rural primary schools [Master’s thesis, Unitec Institute of Technology]. Unitec Research Bank

Current research projects

Internally funded

Project 1: Whakamanawa te mātauranga: Decolonising the STEM space and (re)imaging curriculum and practice through Māori and Pacific knowledge in STEM subjects and disciplines to empower indigenous students

Whakamanawa te mātauranga is a multidisciplinary research project that involves exploring how the STEM learning environment supports Māori and Pacific students’ educational success within Te Ara Auaha, Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies (DCT). The project explores how educational leaders and educators in higher education address the pipeline of supporting Māori and Pacific students to engage in postgraduate students in the School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences and takes a deeper dive into understanding how Māori and Pacific students’ experiences of their studies are affected by structural mechanisms and barriers within higher education in ECMS. The research team includes, Dr Hazel Abraham (project lead), Professor Tania Ka’ai, Tania Smith-Henderson, Donald Ripia (Te Ipukarea Research Institute), Professor Tek Tjing Lie, Dr Junior Nomani (School of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences), Thomas Watts (School of Communication Studies).

Project 2: Funded by a faculty learning and grant

A collaborative project that created a repository that centres the voices of Māori & Pacific students who were recipients of the DCT Excellence Awards in 2021.

Professor Tania Ka’ai (project lead), Tania Smith-Henderson, Dr Hazel Abraham, (Te Ipukarea Research Institute), Thomas Watts, Va'a Magalogo, Caitlin Head, Nogiata Tukimata, Patrick Sharrow & Faasulu Fepuleai Pacific students (School of Communication Studies) and Māori and Pacific postgraduate students in Te Ipukarea.

Project 3: Funded by a faculty learning and teaching grant

This collaborative project was to create and test a virtual online mentoring programme designed for Māori and Pacific students in Te Ara Auaha, Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies. Team members included:

Professor Tania Ka’ai (project lead), Tania Smith-Henderson, Dr Hazel Abraham, (Te Ipukarea Research Institute) Dr Matt Guinibert, Dr Rebecca Trelease, (School of Communication Studies) Professor Aman Oo, Professor Tek Tjing Lie and ECMS postgraduate students (School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences).

Selected publications from this project include:

Ka’ai, T. et al. (2022, 14 March). Te Hiringa Taketake: A literature review. Creating a Māori and Pacific student virtual online mentoring programme in Te Ara Auaha, Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies. Te Ipukarea, Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology. Kaai-Te-Hiringa-Taketake-14032022-final.pdf