Whakataukī: A Speedy Look to the Past to Help Forge the Future
Date: 21 Jul 2026
Marisa McKay, Primary physical education advisor
Physical Education New Zealand
He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora.
Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self worth.
What is a whakataukī?
Te ao Māori is steeped in oral history. The long-standing tradition of whakataukī, historically oral, has provided generations of Māori and New Zealanders with meaning, connection to their ancestors, and help to make sense of the world.
Definitions of the term whakataukī, or proverb, range and vary. This may help to paint a picture: "a speedy look to the past to help forge the future" (Alsop and Kupenga, pg 9).
Where did the Health and Physical Education whakataukī come from?
The beautiful tāonga that is the Health and Physical Education whakataukī was gifted by Te Kepa Stirling (Te Whānau a Apanui) in the 1990s. Te Kepa was initially a carpenter, who then followed in the footsteps of his wife Pani and retrained as a Physical Education teacher. He continued to add strings to his bow throughout his lifetime, including being a Pouako at the Ministry of Education, a Te Reo Māori teacher at Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae, and once the Kaumātua at the University of Auckland, when it was the College of Education.
Te Kepa gifted the whakataukī to the Ministry of Education when the New Zealand Curriculum was being compiled. It was given as a koha to the Ministry of Education, and they in turn adopted it for the Health and Physical Education learning area. It was embraced as it represented the wholistic view of health and hauora.
What is the meaning behind the Health and Physical Education whakataukī?
When understanding what a whakataukī means, we can look for the literal translation from Māori to English. However, the true tāonga of whakataukī is that there are many layers of meaning attached to it. In the true sense of understanding whakataukī, we need to ask what it means to us. What we see, hear, or read into the whakataukī, based on our own knowledge and experience, and how we share that with those around us, gives us a deepened understanding. Understanding whakataukī is a personal experience, and this is echoed in the beautiful book Mauri Ora: "take what is meant for you, and leave the rest for others" (pg 9).
The Health and Physical Education curriculum is grounded in this whakataukī. A foundation and connection to the whenua, it guides and aligns the purpose of our teaching and learning in Health and Physical Education. It is the WHY we do WHAT we do.
As educators and professionals, we can ensure our Health and Physical Education programmes grow our students holistically, generating positive feelings in the hearts of our students, enhancing their wairua and spirit, and raising their sense of self-worth. In doing so, we are developing students who positively contribute to their whānau, communities, and society.
What does it mean for your teaching?
It means consciously holding this whakataukī in your heart and head when it comes to planning and teaching programmes in Health and Physical Education.
It means prioritising the holistic development of our students across the richness of the entire Health and Physical Education curriculum, rather than isolating areas such as skill development and ranking them as higher importance than others.
It means using the whakataukī as a driver for critical reflection on your current Health and Physical Education programmes. Asking questions of your programmes such as:
- Are our programmes generating positive feelings in the hearts of our students?
- Are our programmes raising our students' sense of self-worth?
That is not to say everything must be happy, effortless, and undemanding. We can grow our self-worth and positive feelings by knowing both our strengths and our weaknesses, what we enjoy and what we don't, our values and attitudes and those of others. Coming to understand ourselves, we can find our home and our place in our whānau, our community, and our society.
Looking for more?
Read: Mauri Ora by Alsop and Kupenga
Watch: YouTube clip on the life of Te Kepa Stirling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsCupsdrzZE
With thanks to these physical and health educators for their time, feedback, and support in gathering information on the history and background of this great tāonga, the Health and Physical Education whakataukī: Clive Pope, Jenny Richardson, Harko Brown, Ian Culpin, and Andy Fraser.
Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self worth.