Maureen's Path to Education

As a child, a lot of learning happened in the kitchen, house or keeping score for card games with her Nanny and Koro. School in a traditional sense wasn’t compelling to Maureen who says honestly that “school wasn’t my thing growing up.” She grew up in a household where the school system wasn’t encouraged or enforced, and as a household, it didn’t cater to the needs of their whānau. In a nutshell Maureen was educated in numeracy outside of the school system.

Over the course of her career, she has been shown time and time again, the difference that education can make in communities. She has worked as a Trainer, L&D advisor and in management as a public servant alongside coaching netball and involvement in community activities. Maureen has seen that education strengthens families and helps connection between parents and tamariki. 

When it came time to have her own family, she wanted to make sure that her children were given access to opportunity to be the best they can be in their own area of strength. It has also given her the opportunity for her own area of growth.She had never read a book from beginning to end until she had her children. Understanding her children will benefit from being encouraged to read and exposed to educational opportunities, so started reading to them most nights throughout their childhood, now they are adults she is very proud of their ongoing achievements and path within education. She is now on a mission to read a book a week for 2022.

Maureen’s background is an important part of her success as an educator, she shares her story as an introduction at the beginning of her training and it’s the honesty of her story that helps Maureen connect to the learners she now trains. Her authentic approach really resonates with those she trains. She shows that even though she is now an educator, her path to education hasn’t been linear and it’s never too late to start your own education journey.

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