Dr. Emma Parangi

Dr. Emma Parangi is a Professional Learning Facilitator with the Educational Leadership Project and a Professional Teaching Fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. Her PhD research centers the voices and experiences of Indigenous women leading in early childhood education, with a focus on identity, pedagogical leadership, and relationality among Māori and Pacific leaders.

Keynote Address: Identity & Storytelling as Resistance

In her keynote address, Identity and Storying as Resistance, Emma will explore whakawhanaungatanga, the Māori concept of relationality, and the role of story in sustaining Māori knowledge systems and ways of being. Through examples from Māori practitioners in Aotearoa, New Zealand, the presentation will consider how educators and educational leaders can center cultural identity and use storytelling to resist priorities that may overlook relationships, community knowledge, and lived experience.

Her presentation will invite us to consider how stories can honor cultural knowledge, strengthen relationships, and support communities in imagining more connected and responsive educational spaces.

Keynote Address will take place on the Main Stage from 9:15-10:15am PT.