Chrissie Keepa - Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa

“Ko tōku nui, tōku wehi, tōku whakatiketike, tōku reo. Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori.”               
“My language is my greatness, my inspiration, that which I hold precious. Language is the life force of Māori prestige.”

After a long professional career as an Early Childhood Education (ECE) teacher herself, Chrissie joined the Toi Ohomai ECE degree teaching team in 2021. From completing her Master’s, attending a Māori Writers’ Retreat, undertaking collaborative research with colleagues, publishing journal articles and presenting research at conferences, Chrissie has become an ardent research enthusiast. 

Chrissie’s particular research interest is in supporting and strengthening te reo Māori teaching and integration into her students’ everyday life. Her Master’s dissertation is titled: Te reo Māori in the walls not on the walls: Supporting early childhood educators to embed te reo Māori in their practice, and a recent project with team members Kelly Warren, Rachael Burke and Mallory Tomsett explored what classroom strategies learners found most useful. 

In 2025, Chrissie is currently working with the University of Waikato, enrolling to begin her doctorate. Her overarching focus will be on the historical, societal, and educational factors that influence kaiako attitudes toward learning te reo Māori in mainstream ECE settings, and how can these factors be leveraged to foster a shift from obligation to genuine desire.

Recent research outputs include:

Keepa, C. (2023, November 20-22). Supporting early childhood educators to embed te reo Māori in their practice [Conference presentation]. NZARE Conference, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Keepa, C. (2024, July 12). Supporting student teachers in implementing te reo Māori when transitioning into early childhood education. [Conference presentation]. TEFANZ Conference, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Keepa, C. (2023). Te reo Māori in the walls not on the walls. [Unpublished master's dissertation]. University of Waikato. New Zealand.

Keepa, C., & Buntting, C. (2024). The implementation of te reo Māori for student teachers and certificated teachers within early childhood education. Early Education Journal, 69 (1), [Online First]. 

Keepa, C., Warren, K., Burke, R., & Tomsett, M. (2024, September 19). Embedding te reo Māori within the Early Childhood Education (ECE) programme at Toi Ohomai: Exploring effective teaching strategies [Symposium presentation]. Te Manawa Reka Curiosity Research Symposium, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Rotorua, New Zealand.

Tomsett, M., Warren, K., Burke, R., Wilson, F., & Keepa, C. (2023). A critical appraisal of anxieties among higher education students: Strategies and solutions. Scope: Learning and Teaching, 12 (1), 26-34.