Field trip to Whakatāne enables unique learning experience

It’s a little unusual – to say the least! – for students to express a wish to fail a course. But a recent field trip to Whakatāne for students of Associate Professor Olga Filippova’s Property Industry Project capstone course was so successful that “some of them were saying ‘Can we fail this class, so that we can go next year’,” laughs Olga.

The Business School introduced the Property Industry Project capstone course this year. It’s a cross-faculty course taught in conjunction with the School of Architecture and Planning and offers Property students a valuable opportunity to collaborate with their peers in Architecture. “This simulates actual practice, because when our students graduate, they go into property development [or other situations] where they would work with architects,” explains Olga, who is teaching the course alongside Professor of Architecture Anthony Hōete. “This gives them the opportunity to see how it is in the real world – how they have to talk to each other and understand their point of view and the development process.”

Around thirty students and five staff (including Olga, Anthony, and Business School Kaiārahi Hone Thorpe) travelled to Whakatāne to meet with the local iwi, Ngāti Awa, and collaborate with them on developing project proposals for Papakāinga (communal housing traditionally established on ancestral Māori land). The students are considering the development feasibility of two sites – one in Auckland, and one in Whakatāne, explains Olga. “As part of that, the students need to look at planning constraints, develop a conceptual design for the site – for example, what number of units a site can accommodate – and then estimate how much it will cost and whether it’s feasible to build.” The field trip thus enabled the students to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained over the course of their studies to a real-world project.

More than this, however, the trip offered students a unique opportunity to engage with an iwi and, in so doing, develop “an understanding of Māori culture and connections,” says Olga. “Part of [the purpose of] this trip was cultural, because a lot of students have never been on a marae. As part of this course, we felt that it was important that students made the connection in person with Ngāti Awa – to understand their history and housing needs.” The group were welcomed onto three different marae during their first day, and stayed overnight at one. “It gave students an appreciation of the traditions – they had to learn the different protocols of the marae,” says Olga. Hone Thorpe, who spoke on behalf of the group at the marae, was “incredibly impressed” by the trip, she says. “He said that not many people [have the opportunity] to be welcomed onto a marae – and we were welcomed onto three marae in a single day,” says Olga. “So that first day was really a kind of cultural immersion for the students. And they embraced it all – they were all very respectful and they really enjoyed the experience they had.”

The focus of the second day was on the housing needs of the iwi, with the group visiting the proposed site of the development in Whakatāne. The first-hand experience of meeting the iwi and visiting the site was not just new for the students – it was a first for the Business School, too, says Olga. “There are programmes in the University where it’s quite normal to go on a field trip. But in the Business School, it’s not something that we do often. Taking students on a field trip, working with an iwi – that’s definitely a first. The iwi could [perhaps] have come to Auckland to talk about the issues, but I don’t think it would have had the same effect [for the students] as visiting and seeing it with their own eyes.”

The trip was therefore very much aligned with Taumata Teitei, the University of Auckland’s Vision and Strategic Plan, observes Olga. “Cross-disciplinary courses are a big focus of this strategy, as is giving students an understanding of Māori culture and of our place in the world. So [this trip] fitted quite well with what the University is trying to do.”

It wasn’t all about the learning opportunities, however. As essential as these experiences were for the students, Olga notes that a real bonus for them was the opportunity to come together as a cohort. “They all started their study around 2021 – so with Covid interruptions, so much has been online,” she explains. “This was the first time that they actually [spent time] together [outside of lectures]. Travelling together and staying at the marae made them all a lot closer – they were saying ‘This is the first time we’re talking to each other.’ It was a real highlight for them to go on this trip and get to know their peers.”

What made the field trip – and indeed this new capstone course – unique, believes Olga, is its focus on the “social side” of housing. “I don’t think we have a lot of content within our programmes in general to give students an experience of how housing can affect people’s wellbeing, and how access to good housing can improve a lot of outcomes,” she explains. “What makes this project different is that it has social benefits, not just economic benefits for a private developer. We are really trying to lift people’s wellbeing.” Those student jokes about wanting to fail the course now make sense. With so much to learn on so many levels, it’s no wonder that this is an experience everyone’s eager to relive.