my postgraduate supervisor my postgraduate supervisee

After five years of full-time LMC practice, Waimarie Onekawa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine) was ready for a change of pace and eager to explore how she could contribute a Māori voice to the body of midwifery mātauranga (knowledge).

In 2020, Waimarie commenced study towards a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Science - Midwifery (Honours) through AUT; a pilot pathway that prepares exceptional undergraduate students with significant practice experience for doctoral or PhD qualification. Waimarie completed one research paper in the first semester, then dove straight into a dissertation, which she had a year to complete.

Entitled ‘I don’t know why I want a Māori midwife, I just do’, her dissertation was written in auto-ethnography style (a personal narrative), incorporating the stories of whānau she cared for as an LMC and exclusively utilising kaupapa Māori methodologies.

Waimarie’s motivation for sharing her story as a Māori midwife was both personal and professional. “I felt like it was going to give a stronger voice to Māori. I recognised a huge gap in published Māori ways of knowing and being, and I wondered whether having something recorded, something that’s peerreviewed and verified, would help to validate the voice of Māori - to give us a platform.”

The process of writing it turned out to be much more than an academic pursuit, as she discovered. “Because I don’t speak the reo and didn’t grow up steeped in mātauranga Māori, I had those doubts about whether I was Māori enough. But going through this process of writing down my experiences, analysing them and exploring deeper layers, I solidified the fact that what I know as a Māori midwife is actually valid.”

Waimarie was supervised by a team throughout, comprised of Professor Judith McAra-Couper, Annabel Farry, and cultural supervisors Beatrice Leatham and Paraone Tai Tin. The benefits of having a whole team were many, as Waimarie explains.

“One thing I really enjoyed was the diversity of worldviews within my team. Having two tauiwi supervisors and two Māori cultural supervisors meant I had access to a wide range of skills and knowledge. They were structured, helped me stay on task, and gave me ideas I never would have otherwise thought of.”

Annabel’s contribution in particular, was invaluable. “Annabel brought the esoteric element; te ao Māori wasn’t hard for her to grasp. When I would present a concept, Annabel would understand where I was coming from, so there was a meeting of minds. She was instrumental in helping translate what was in my head into research terms.”

Now enrolled to complete her doctorate, Waimarie is also part of a wider research project, funded by Health Research Council New Zealand, which will look at the sustainability of LMC midwifery. The project will, in turn, inform her doctoral thesis. square

Annabel Farry (Lebanese, Scottish) has been a midwifery lecturer at AUT since 2007 and played a key role as a member of Waimarie’s postgraduate supervisory team.

After gaining a Master of Health Science and publishing her thesis on place of birth in 2015, Annabel completed a research fellowship through i3 (Institute for Innovation and Improvement) in 2018 and is currently completing her doctorate by publication.

Her own postgraduate journey has, in part, been about fulfilling her responsibilities as an educator. “For a while I was content with learning and teaching, but then you need further qualifications to really be able to understand research and teach at a different level. So it’s been a journey of gaining qualifications on the job, as well as being an expectation of my role as a lecturer.”

Since Annabel is still in the process of gaining her own doctorate, she wasn’t Waimarie’s primary supervisor, but played a significant role within the team of four. “I was myself learning to supervise, and because it was a dissertation, I was able to do that. So I was being shown the ropes by senior supervisors and learning how to support someone in the post-graduate space.”

Acknowledging the tapu nature of Waimarie’s process and dissertation was integral for Annabel, who was constantly mindful of the different roles each member of the team was playing, and why. “The reason it worked was because of the presence of Paraone and Bea. They held the space in a way that allowed for the supervisory team - of which I was a part - to be advised. It’s a space in which deep care must be taken; when knowledge is coming from te ao Māori, it’s not for non-Māori supervisors to comment on it.”

The whole experience was a privilege, as Annabel explains. “To be supervisory of someone like Waimarie was utterly extraordinary, because she had so much depth of knowledge from the richness of her practice. The extent to which I could support her was only in clarifying thoughts she couldn’t quite capture.”

Holding a particular interest in te Tiriti as a basis for reshaping curriculum, Annabel was grateful for the opportunity to gain even more clarity through the experience. Playing her part in ensuring Māori voices are heard and valued was an honour - one she didn’t take lightly. “I learnt a lot about myself, about Aotearoa, about midwifery, about whakawhānaungatanga, and about working alongside Māori. I feel so fortunate, but at the same time I’m aware that it’s incredibly complex, and I’m a humble student taking part in a huge, important conversation.”

Annabel’s view on her own role, as well as the collective responsibility of all midwifery educators, is clear. “If we’re to uphold and strengthen those voices and understandings that have been historically suppressed, it’s an ‘all hands on deck’ moment. Reckoning with our colonial history is urgent, and part of that is supporting people brave enough to explore what successfully working with whānau Māori could look like.” square