John Cornelius Moorfield , also known as Te Murumāra, was a New Zealand academic whose expertise was in the teaching of the Māori language. His work, including the publication of resources for learners of the language, contributed to the language's revitalisation.
Early life and education
Born in Huntly on 18 October 1943, and raised in Te Kauwhata, Moorfield was the son of Moya Ella Winifred Moorfield and her husband Robert Peter Moorfield. Despite being Pākehā, he was educated at St Stephen's School—a Māori boys' boarding school at Bombay, south of Auckland—where his teachers included Hoani Waititi. Moorfield became captivated by the Māori language, and went on to study at the University of Auckland, and he was one of the first students to complete a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Māori language. After graduating from Auckland, Moorfield went to Auckland Secondary Teachers' College in 1967 to train as a schoolteacher, and began his quest for an effective method of teaching the Māori language. Later, in 1984, Moorfield completed a Master of Education at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where his thesis was titled, An analysis of the bilingual method: theoretical and practical considerations. In 1998, he earned a Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Otago, based on his body of work of textbooks and resources for adult learners of the Māori language.
Career
After leaving teachers' college, Moorfield taught at secondary schools in the Waikato and South Auckland areas: namely Ngaruawahia High School, Wesley College, and Tuakau College. Moorfield was appointed to the staff of the University of Waikato in 1976, working and teaching alongside Tīmoti Kāretu, Te Wharehuia Milroy and Hirini Melbourne. Concerned at the inadequacy of available resource material to support the teaching of the Māori language to adult students, Moorfield set about compiling audio resources and writing appropriate books. The resulting Te Whanake series of resources and textbooks has been recognised internationally as a model for minority language education programmes. At Waikato, Moorfield was also responsible for the establishment of the first Māori-medium undergraduate degree programme. After 21 years at Waikato, Moorfield moved to the University of Otago in 1997, and his Te Whanake system for Māori language learning was implemented at all levels. There he began collaborating with Tania Ka'ai, and in 2007 both Moorfield and Ka'ai moved to Auckland University of Technology to take professorships in Māori innovation and development. In 2005, Moorfield published a Māori–English dictionary entitled Te Aka, which is available both in hard copy and online. Moorfield died of cancer on 19 May 2018.
