A language expert has weighed in on Te Pūkenga's style guide, saying it's a "little bit too prescriptive" as staff push back on efforts by management to shape the words they can and can’t use.
Te Pūkenga, Aotearoa's largest tertiary education provider, issued a style guide recommending words staff should and shouldn't use.
It recommends not using the words "student" or "trainee", but instead using "ākonga" the Māori word for student or "learners" and instead of "staff", using "kaimahi" the term "our people" or calling colleagues "work friends" or "whanau".
University of Auckland language expert Stephen May told AM it isn't unusual for organisations to have a style guide that reflects their values and priorities.
"Certainly that's a very normal thing in the corporate world."
May believes Te Pūkenga has attempted "perhaps a little bit hand-fistedly" to reflect the change in society in Aotearoa.
"It's perfectly reasonable again to use and to want to encourage or maximise or expand the use of Te Reo Māori. I mean we've been doing it, in terms of Māori Language Week revitalisation."
But May says he has an issue with the style guide being "a little bit too prescriptive" and would have liked to have seen more explanation around the guide.
"I think the key issue again is that perhaps part of the guidelines is trying to challenge that monolingual, English mindset and saying you know there are other words we use in everyday Aotearoa New Zealand from Te Reo Māori, here are some, use those instead," May said.
In a statement provided to Newshub on Wednesday, Te Pūkenga chief executive Peter Winder said the style guide was intended to be used as a reference.
"Many organisations, including tertiary organisations, provide style guides to their teams as a standard resource," Winder said.
"The intention is to promote consistency in the terms we use, given we have brought 24 different entities together."
Watch May's full interview with AM above.
