Ngā karanga ki a koutou.

Anei te mokopuna nō Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Kahungnu, Te Whānau a Āpanui me Ngāti Porou. Ko Tia Neha te ingoa.

Ka tipua ia kei Te Waipounamu.

Dr Tia Neha is the new lecturer in Māori and indigenous psychology. Tia has over 20 years’ experience in the education sector, having worked as an early childhood, primary, and secondary school teacher. She has also worked in a number of special education services and residential schools, and taught mathematics and Te Tiriti o Waitangi to students studying towards their Certificate of University Preparation at the University of Canterbury. It is her experiences as a teacher, working alongside psychologists, which prompted Tia to look further into psychology.

Tia completed her Certificate of Proficiency and Masters of Psychology at the University of Canterbury in Psychology and completed her PhD at the University of Otago in 2016. Her thesis topic was “He Maumahara ki ngā Kōrero a ngā Whānau ki Te Waipounamu, Family Recollections and Social Contributions to Māori children’s learning in the South Island, New Zealand”. She has extensive experience as a consultative researcher, and has worked on a diverse range of projects in collaboration with other academics, government agencies, health professionals and community groups.

Her main research interests within Māori and Indigenous Developmental Psychology, includes the following four areas:

1. indigenous and developmental psychology in the interdependent relations between whānau and their children’s learning
2. autobiographical memory with whānau
3. language acquisition
4. Māori paediatric health.

In her new role, Tia will be teaching courses in these research interest areas, and conducting further research into culture and learning in Māori and other indigenous communities. She will also be supporting the Kaiawhina Tauira Paris Pidduck. She is excited about the opportunity to build the School of Psychology’s research and teaching capacity in the area of Māori and indigenous developmental psychology, and attract more Māori students to the School.

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