The Right Time to Teach: Mei-Lin Hansen’s Path to Teaching

 “I came to realise how important and influential teacher-student relationships can be to students’ socialization and to them realising their worth,” she reflects. Motivated by the desire to return to the positive energy of a school environment, she pursued a career in teaching.

While searching for a postgraduate teacher training programme online, Mei-Lin found The Teachers’ Institute, which provided the programme she was looking for. “The split between at-school and at-institute learning was appealing, and so was the receipt of a stipend while the training takes place,” she explains. With St Peter’s College as one of the participating schools, where Mei-Lin had previously worked as a teacher aide, she felt at home and decided to enrol.

Mei-Lin Hansen comes from a richly diverse background. “My mum is Chinese-Māori (Ngāti Mahanga-Hourua), my dad is Pākehā. Being Māori-Chinese-Pākehā I am tāngata whenua, an immigrant, and a settler-coloniser all at once,” she shares. Growing up in a large, multi-cultural whānau has profoundly shaped her worldview. “I strive to be authentic in my relationships and to treat everyone with respect and kindness,” she says.

“The Arts have always fascinated me – words, story, and language in particular,” she reveals. Her passion for English literature, New Zealand literature, and Māori literature was sparked during her high school years and carried through to her university studies and professional life. Notably, in 2015, her play “The Mooncake and the Kūmara” premiered at the Auckland Arts Festival and toured sold-out theatres across New Zealand. She later wrote a comedy-horror episode for TVNZ and a sequence for the anthology feature film “Kāinga.” “I am inspired and motivated by the opportunity to teach English and reo Māori,” she says. Her goal is to engage students with powerful stories and reo rangatira, helping them understand their importance and impact.

Engaging and exciting students is a challenge she is ready to tackle. “Rangatahi are so busy with so many things inside and outside of school, there are a million things calling for their attention,” she acknowledges. She hopes to gain tools and insights during her time at The Teachers’ Institute to better engage her students. “My main aim is to help my students discover some nugget, even one tiny nugget, in a play, in a poem, in a piece of nonfiction text, in their understanding of reo that gets their heart racing, their skin prickling, or their mind soaring.”

Mei-Lin’s immediate focus is on teaching the English curriculum to the best of her ability. However, she has broader goals for her teaching career. “I’m interested in three areas of teaching: the Arts (English, Creative Writing, Media, Drama); Reo and Tikanga Māori; Learning Support,” she shares. She hopes to explore these areas and figure out where she can most effectively benefit students. Ultimately, she wants to help rangatahi feel safe and inspired during their school years, providing them with a supportive environment to experiment with ideas and identities. “If I achieve this during my time as a teacher, I’ll be happy,” she concludes.

For those considering a career in teaching, Mei-Lin offers valuable advice. “Becoming a teacher is not something that should be treated lightly. Talk with parents, students, colleagues, whānau about what their expectations of teachers are and about whether they think you’d be right for the job. You need a good sense of humour, the ability to develop solid relationships, to be able to share knowledge about your subject enthusiastically and passionately, to understand where people come from and you have to be prepared to work hard.”