The University of Canterbury Senior Lecturer in the School of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury (UC), Dr. Borell (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), is a huge rugby league fan, dedicated league coach and proud father of two boys, including a two-year-old who sometimes spends time in the office.
Dr. Borell is passionate about making teaching interactive and inclusive, and his approach is to inspire in his students the same enthusiasm he feels for his research areas, which include Indigenous masculinity, sport policy, and sport and education.
“My approach is to just continue to love teaching because when students see that someone at the top loves someone who loves their work and is having fun, then they will engage in the lectures and want to be there and learn. “I just try to be authentically myself and convey as much of myself to the students as I comfortably can,” he says.
Dr. Borell was just awarded the 2023 UC Teaching Medal, the university’s highest honor for teaching excellence.
He had never planned to pursue a career as an academic, but research and work as a lecturer in the School of Māori and Indigenous Studies and as part of the Bachelor of Sport Coaching gave him the opportunity to explore all of his interests, including sport, community, family and culture, to integrate.
“I am able to be the same person at work that I am outside of work. At the beginning of a lecture, I might talk about how the Warriors played over the weekend and engage in a way that doesn’t involve me just reading a slide. If I’m excited about something, I won’t hide it. I feel like I can synergize everything I do and all my interests align with my work.”
He is part of the coaching staff of the Eastern Eagles’ premier men’s rugby league team and his research has focused on Māori contributions to rugby league as well as Polynesian experiences of the sport. His next research topic will examine the experiences of family members of rugby league athletes traveling abroad to play.
He says he is grateful to be able to study what he loves. “Everything is a coincidence; It’s not exactly well known that rugby league and academia are good friends, but it’s really cool that I can bring them together and we’re seeing a greater focus on rugby league in the learning area.”
Māori voices
Dr. Borell is currently developing a new bespoke paper on Māori sport practices, which will form part of a Māori-focused Bachelor of Sport major to be introduced from 2025, which he describes as an exciting development. “It’s such a big part of these kids’ lifestyles that it makes sense to reflect that in the course content.”
He began studying at UC in 2002 and began teaching there in 2008, 15 years ago. He graduated with a master’s degree in 2013 and received his doctorate in 2022. He feels so strongly that he belongs to the institution that he even got married on campus, on a lawn just a stone’s throw from his office. “It was such a home for me,” he says.
Dr. Borell is a previous winner of the University of Canterbury Students’ Association Student Choice Lecturer of the Year award and was named Faculty of Arts Lecturer of the Year and Overall Lecturer of the Year in 2021 and 2022. He says he was very emotional at the award ceremony. “For someone who teaches the way I teach – always student-centered – this recognition is huge.”
Its aim is to promote critical thinking and develop students’ ability to engage with whakaaro Māori (Māori perspectives).
“When I give a talk about racism, privilege or diversity, I do it in a sensitive yet engaging way, and if I can throw in a few jokes, that helps too,” he says.
He emphasizes community engagement and theory supported by practical experience, often inviting key contacts into the classroom to speak with students about their real-world experiences. He’s also committed to this outside of UC, as co-founder of The Kutt Kollective in Wainoni, Christchurch, which offers leadership and fitness courses for high school students based on kaupapa Māori models. Kutt Kollective puts groups of young people together into Kī o rahi (a Māori ball sport) teams and helps them build hauora (well-being), fitness and life skills.
While Dr. While Borell prefers not to see himself as a role model, he enjoys mentoring others. “I was a bit of a mischievous child at school. When I, as an instructor, show young people out of high school who have that little devious gleam in their eye that they can be successful in this field, that they can take the strange and winding roads and still end up here, that’s just who I am enthusiastic.”
From University of Canterbury News
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