9 July 2025: Seminar by Dr Kerri Spooner, AUT

What happens to Māori students in New Zealand’s Mathematics education system?

Coming from a Māori heritage, Dr Spooner brings a personal and professional lens to the experiences of Māori and Pasifika students in mathematics education. The journey to success in mathematics is often hindered not by capability, but by systemic and environmental factors that unintentionally create inequities. Through storytelling—her own and others’—Dr Spooner will explore these experiences and share insights into two AUT programmes designed to address these imbalances: the Certificate of Science and Technology and Uniprep (prior to 2021). These initiatives aim to provide equitable access to tertiary STEM education for all.

Speaker’s Bio

Dr Kerri Spooner (Ko Ngāti Rangi, ko Te Atihaunui-a-paparangi, ko Pākehā tōoku iwi, Ko Ngāti Rangitihia raua ko Ngāti Ruaka tōoku hapu), is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Kerri has a Doctoral degree in Tertiary Mathematical Modelling Education and a Masters degreee in Secondary School Mathematical Modelling Education.