Kia ora ,

I'm pleased to share with you the following updates for Ako Aotearoa including some information on the organisation's future leading into 2026.

Ongoing updates

Ako Aotearoa website
We are currently working with our host, Massey University, and the Ako Aotearoa Board, to develop the best solutions for the future and to ensure longevity and integrity of the Ako Aotearoa resources. At this stage, I am pleased to confirm that hosting of the website has been negotiated until the end of 2026. We will continue to update you on this project in the coming weeks.

Te Whatu Kairangi Awardees

The ceremony recording is now available! We are very proud to have been able to host the Te Whatu Kairangi 2025 Awards ceremony here in Wellington on Wednesday 5 November. Twenty-seven educators were formally celebrated during the ceremony - including a very deserving Prime Minister's Educator of the Year.

Strategy Co-Design Project - findings and recommendations

Earlier this year, we began our strategy co-design project to help shape the future direction of Ako Aotearoa in consultation with the tertiary sector. With our closure now set for the end of this year, we're hopeful that the findings and recommendations will be of value to the broader sector regardless. In case you didn't see the report recently, you can read more about it here or download it below.

AARIA project outputs

Our Research Manager, Dr Marvin Wu, has been working closely with project teams (specifically projects funded through the 2023/2024 AARIA contestable funding rounds) to complete all work prior to Ako Aotearoa closure. We thank these teams for their hard work to achieve this alongside demanding workloads.

We are pleased to share that the 'Circle of Knowledge' project, led by Dr Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga will be holding a free online event on 1 December and we invite you to join us in celebrating its completion.

Ngā mihi nui

Corrina Gestro-Best

Director, Ako Aotearoa

Also in this e-newsletter:

Free resources
Connecting with our community
Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark (DFQM) Ceremony
New research: Scoping a Neurodivergent-Friendly Quality Mark
New ACE focused research
Te Whatu Kairangi: New teaching and learning videos
Ako Aotearoa sponsored event

Ngā mihi

The Ako Aotearoa team

Latest free resources

Ako Aotearoa Sector Strategy Co-design icon

New Report

Findings, feedback and recommendations from our strategic consultation with the sector

New Report

Scoping a Neurodivergent-Friendly Quality Mark for the workplace

Connecting with our community

Prime Minister’s 2025 Educator of the Year

Earlier this month, Ako Aotearoa was proud to celebrate the achievements of all 2025 Te Whatu Kairangi Awardees. Richard Hope from Ara Institute of Canterbury was announced as the recipient for the 2025 Te Tohu Kaiako o Te Tau a Te Pirimia | Prime Minister’s Educator of the Year award during the ceremony.

Read more about this year's awardees on our website or watch the ceremony recording.

Ako Aotearoa at ICDE Conference

Ako Aotearoa was proud to sponsor and attend the 2025 International Conference for Distance Education (ICDE) conference in Wellington, this month.

Our Senior Advisor Professional Learning, John Milne, led a workshop at the conference exploring what drives transformation in distance education. When asked about his highlight from the conference John shared: "Danny Liu’s keynote on AI was inspirational. He highlighted how AI is exposing poor teaching practices, with some approaches still overly focused on content rather than learning."

Find out more about the ICDE conference, and the range of speakers.

A slide from Danny Liu's ICDE Conference presentation

News From Ako Aotearoa

Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark (DFQM)

Ceremony

Join us at the online ceremony on 27 November as we celebrate teams from seven organisations at this year's DFQM awards. We acknowledge their efforts to lead the way in creating inclusive, supportive learning environments for learners with dyslexia.

The DFQM is the only dyslexia quality mark of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and since its creation in 2021, 25 organisations have been awarded this world-leading quality mark.

Visit our website to learn more about the DFQM.

New research: Scoping a Neurodivergent-Friendly Quality Mark

Ako Aotearoa’s latest report explores the development of a Neurodivergent-Friendly Quality Mark (NFQM) for workplaces.

The report aims to raise awareness, reduce barriers, and support neurodivergent staff across Aotearoa through discussion on the need for a NFQM in Aotearoa New Zealand, with findings from surveys with sector stakeholders on the issue.

Read the report.

New ACE focused research

We're pleased to be hosting Dr Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga and the research team at Adult and Community Education (ACE) Aotearoa in the free online information session at 12pm on 1 December.

The project worked with ACE educators from Kaitaia and Christchurch to evaluate the implementation of teaching and learning circles within ACE contexts.

Learn more.

Te Whatu Kairangi: New teaching and learning videos

The team at Ako Aotearoa are excited to share the teaching and learning videos of the 2025 Te Whatu Karangi Awardees.

These short videos offer insights into their teaching and learning practices, and what drives the positive impact they have on their learners.

View on YouTube

Ako Aotearoa sponsored event

Foundation and Bridging Education New Zealand 7th Biennial Conference

8 - 9 December

Wellington (In-person)

Click here to update your interests.

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Contents of this email are Copyright © 2025 Ako Aotearoa, All rights reserved. Publications, resources, and tools available on our website ako.ac.nz are shared under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.