# Educator Guide — Adapting Te Pā Materials for Your Community

*A practical classroom guide for teachers, facilitators, and community educators*

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## Overview

The Te Pā curriculum teaches AI data sovereignty through Indigenous motifs, storytelling, and the CARE Principles. This guide helps you adapt these materials for your local community — whether you are teaching in a Māori kura, a Brazilian Indigenous school, a Pacific community centre, or anywhere people are grappling with how AI systems affect their data and culture.

**You do not need to be a technology expert to teach this curriculum.** The materials are designed around cultural knowledge first, with AI literacy as the outcome.

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## The Six Modules at a Glance

| Module | Theme | CARE Principle | What Students Will Do |
|--------|-------|----------------|-----------------------|
| 1 | What is Data? | Collective Benefit | Map what data their community already holds |
| 2 | Data Colonialism | Responsibility | Trace how data has been extracted from their community historically |
| 3 | CARE & Sovereignty | Authority | Write their own community data charter |
| 4 | Land & Territory | Ethics | Connect land mapping to data mapping |
| 5 | Collective Knowledge | C + R | Create a community knowledge archive project |
| 6 | Indigenous AI Futures | Ethics | Imagine and design AI tools for their community |

Each module is paired with motifs from the relevant cultural tradition. The motif is not decoration — it is the conceptual anchor for the lesson.

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## Starting a Session: The Motif Protocol

Before any lesson, introduce the motif for that module:

1. **Show the motif image** (use the PNG from the kit manifest or the meme graphic)
2. **Ask the community name for this pattern** — does your community have an equivalent symbol?
3. **Read the meaning aloud** in your local language
4. **Ask:** "Where do you see this pattern in your community today? In your data?"
5. Only then open the lesson activity

This protocol grounds the technical content in lived cultural experience.

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## Adapting for Your Language

### If your language is not yet in the system

The five current languages (English, Te Reo Māori, Português, Avañe'ẽ / Guaraní, Gagana Samoa) are the starting point. To add your language:

1. Contact the Te Pā team via the platform or GitHub
2. Provide translations for the 30 motif meanings and 6 module titles
3. We will generate a translated teaching kit PDF and kit manifest

**In the meantime:** Use the English kit and translate verbally in your classroom. The motif images, meme graphics, and activity structures work in any language.

### Linguistic sovereignty note

Where technical terms (data, algorithm, AI, sovereignty) do not exist in your language, we encourage you to **create or adopt Indigenous equivalents** rather than borrowing English terms. Document these terms and share them — this is itself an act of data sovereignty.

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## Using the Motif Memes in the Classroom

Every motif has a meme graphic designed for social media sharing. These can also be used as:

- **Discussion starters** — project the meme at the start of class
- **Student posters** — print and display in the classroom
- **Community communication** — share in parent newsletters or community WhatsApp groups
- **Assessment artifacts** — ask students to create their own caption in their language

Access all meme graphics via the Rhizome Mapper social kit panel or directly from the kit manifest's `social_graphics` array.

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## Social Media Amplification

When students share their work online, use the hashtags from your language kit manifest to connect with the global Indigenous AI sovereignty movement:

| Language | Key Hashtags |
|----------|-------------|
| English | `#DataSovereignty #IndigenousAI #TePa #CARE #AIRights` |
| Te Reo Māori | `#ManaMotuhake #ReoMāori #TePa #MātaurangaMāori #HiahiaTiaki` |
| Português | `#SoberaniadeDados #PovosIndígenas #TePa #AIIndígena #CARE` |
| Avañe'ẽ | `#TekoteviPorãvéva #ÑanderuviPorã #TePa #Guaraní #CARE` |
| Gagana Samoa | `#TaofiFaaSamoa #GaganaOLomuamua #TePa #DataSovereignty #Oceania` |

Ask students to post in their language first — then add the English hashtag second so the content travels beyond the community while still being rooted in it.

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## Module 1 — Classroom Activity: Community Data Map

**Time:** 60–90 minutes  
**Materials:** Large paper or whiteboard, sticky notes, motif image (koru / yvy_mara_ey / va_a_waka depending on your region)  
**Language:** Use the kit manifest for your language

**Steps:**
1. Show the module motif and run the Motif Protocol (see above)
2. Ask students: "What does your community know? Make a list." (Oral traditions, land knowledge, recipes, health practices, genealogy, songs, maps, names of places)
3. For each item: "Who holds this? Who has access? Who benefits?"
4. Introduce the word "data" — "All of this is data. What happens when a tech company collects it without asking?"
5. Read the CARE principle: **Collective Benefit** — data must benefit the community it comes from
6. Students write one sentence: "In our community, data sovereignty means..."

**Share:** Photograph the map and share it on the Rhizome Mapper using your organisation's tag

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## Module 2 — Data Colonialism: A Discussion Framework

**Key motifs:** niho_taniwha (Māori), mangopare (Māori), luta_pela_vida (Amazonian), kayapo_jaguar_division (Kayapó), yanomami_urihi (Yanomami)

**Questions for discussion:**
- Can you name a time when your community's knowledge was taken without permission?
- How is this similar to what happens when apps collect your data?
- What are the names for land theft in your language? What would be the equivalent term for data theft?
- Who profits from your community's data today?

**Assessment option:** Students research one case of data extraction from their community (e.g., a bioprospecting case, a land survey, a health database) and present it back to the class using the motif as a conceptual frame.

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## Module 6 — Indigenous AI Futures: Design Challenge

**Key motifs:** niho_mano (Samoan), pea (Samoan), aso (Samoan), jagua_pyta (Guaraní)

**The challenge:** If your community could design an AI tool that served your interests — what would it do?

**Constraints:**
1. It must be governed by your community (not a corporation)
2. It must preserve and strengthen your language
3. It must operate under the CARE Principles
4. It must be built from your community's own data, held by your community

**Format:** Students can present as a poster, video, written proposal, or oral presentation in their language.

**Connect:** Use the Rhizome Mapper to pin your school or community and share the project. Other Indigenous educators and organisations around the world will be able to see it.

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## Tracking Kit Use and Sharing

The Te Pā platform automatically tracks when teaching kits are downloaded and when motif graphics are shared. This data is:

- Stored anonymously (country, language, organisation — no personal data)
- Visible in aggregate on the Rhizome Mapper stats panel
- Used to show the global reach of Indigenous AI education

If you want your organisation listed on the Rhizome Mapper, register via the site. You will receive an organisation code to use when posting motifs — this connects your classroom to the global network.

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## Getting Support

- **Platform:** [kiwi-dialectic-te-pa-minisite.vercel.app](https://kiwi-dialectic-te-pa-minisite.vercel.app)
- **GitHub (materials, translations, issues):** [github.com/robertmccallnz/kiwi-dialectic-te-pa-minisite](https://github.com/robertmccallnz/kiwi-dialectic-te-pa-minisite)
- **Trust contact:** Te Pā Charitable Trust · 2 Mount Street, Port Chalmers, Dunedin 9023, Aotearoa New Zealand

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## Translations of This Guide

### Português — Guia do Educador

Este guia ajuda professores e facilitadores a adaptar os materiais de Te Pā para sua comunidade local. O currículo ensina soberania de dados indígena através de motivos culturais, narrativa e os Princípios CARE. Você não precisa ser especialista em tecnologia — o conhecimento cultural é o ponto de partida.

**Protocolo do motivo:** Antes de cada aula, mostre a imagem do motivo, pergunte o nome equivalente em sua comunidade, leia o significado em voz alta no idioma local e pergunte: "Onde você vê este padrão nos dados da sua comunidade?"

**Amplificação nas redes:** Peça aos alunos que publiquem em Português primeiro, usando `#SoberaniadeDados #PovosIndígenas #TePa`, e então adicionem a hashtag em inglês para ampliar o alcance.

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### Avañe'ẽ — Mbo'ehára Rekorã

Ko ñombyhy oñeikotevẽ mbo'ehára ha ñemoñepyrũhára ndive ohechaukávo mba'éichapa oikuaaukáta ko'ã tembiapo ñanderuve kuéra ndive. Ko mbo'esyry ombopara **ñane rekove porã tembiasakuépe** ndive AI, oñeñehẽmbyva'erã ñandejapo'ia rembiapóicha. Nereikotevẽi eikuaáva tecnología — ñane rekove tūpãgua oñepyrũva'erã mba'e.

**Kuarahy ra'ãnga ñombyhy:** Peteĩ peteĩ aranduhare mboypy oñepyrũvo, ehechauka ra'ãnga, eporandu ne ñepyrũme mba'e héra ko tembiapo ndive, emoñe'ẽ marandurã ñe'ẽme, ha eporandu: "Mávape oguatave'ẽ ñande rekove tembiasakuépe ko'ãga?"

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### Te Reo Māori — Ārahi Kaiaako

Ko tēnei ārahi hei āwhina i ngā kaiaako me ngā kaiwhakamāherehere ki te whakamahi i ngā rauemi a Te Pā mō ō rātou hapori ake. Ko te marautanga e ako ana i te **mana motuhake raraunga** mā ngā hōpua tūāhuatanga, kōrero tuku iho, me ngā Mātāpono CARE. Ehara i te mea me mōhio ki ngā hangarau — ko te mātauranga Māori te tūāpō.

**Tikanga hōpua:** I mua i ia akomanga, whakaatuhia te hōpua, pātaihia te ingoa Māori mōna, pānuitia te tikanga hei reo Māori, ā, pātaihia: "Kei hea tēnei āhua i roto i ō raraunga hapori?"

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### Gagana Samoa — Taitaiga mo Faiaoga

O lenei taitaiga e fesoasoani ai i faiaoga ma faatino ao a'oa'oina i le fa'aoga o mea a Te Pā mo lo latou nu'u lava. O le a'oa'oga e a'oa'o ai le **pule fa'asinomaga o fa'amaumauga** e ala i fa'ailoga motif, tala fa'aleaganuu, ma Mataupu CARE. E le manaomia se poto i tekinolosi — o le poto fa'aleaganuu o le amataga.

**Fa'asologa o le motif:** A'o le'i amata so'o se a'oa'oga, fa'aali le ata motif, fesili i le igoa fa'asamoa o le fa'ailoga, faitau i luga le uiga i le Gagana Samoa, ma fesili: "O fea e vaaia ai lenei fa'ailoga i fa'amaumauga o lo outou nu'u?"