E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Paul Whitinui was a recipient of the Rangiriri and Whiwhi Martin Winiata Scholarship in 2006. The scholarship enabled him to enrol in his final year full-time at the University of Auckland. As a result, Paul was able to successfully complete his doctorate this year and anticipates graduating in May 2008.
His thesis entitled, 'The Indigenous Factor: Exploring Kapa Haka as a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment in Mainstream Secondary Schools' focused on exploring and identifying the educational benefits associated with Māori students participating in kapa haka in mainstream secondary schools. The findings revealed quite emphatically that not only does kapa haka provide a culturally responsive learning environment for Māori students to celebrate their language and culture; it also provides a lens to better explore and understand ways Māori students engage in their learning more successfully.
More recently, Paul has been accepted to present at the sixth annual Hawaii International Conference on Education scheduled for January 2008. He sees this as not only as a great opportunity to share his work, but also as a way to travel and meet other international researchers.
Currently Paul works full-time as a lecturer in the Sport and Leisure Studies Department at the University of Waikato and belongs to Te Whakaminenga a group focused on supporting Māori students and teachers to achieve their aspirations.
In the near future, Paul hopes to be part of a steering committee focused on developing alternative and/or new kinds of creative, dynamic and innovative learning environments specific for culturally connected learners. He is also very keen to investigate any and all kinds of alternative learning environments where indigenous and/or culturally diverse learners have been successful.
In his spare time he enjoys being with whānau, attending the local gym, watching Māori television, working alongside Māori for the benefit of Māori, and eating out.
Finally, Paul believes that effective study relies on three key factors: finding your passion; reading widely; and putting pen to paper.

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