Dr Moeata Keil has been named one of the 2025 winners of the prestigious Te Whatu Kairangi Le Moana Mua Award (Aotearoa Tertiary Educator Awards). Two Samoans have received the honour this year – with Associate Professor Lefaoalii Dion Enari also selected amongst hundreds who applied.
Te Whatu Kairangi Le Moana Mua Award is a national program in New Zealand that recognizes outstanding excellence in tertiary education, celebrating educators who make a significant impact on their students, communities, and whānau.
Raised in Samoa, the Robert Louis Stevenson High School alumni is now a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Auckland.
Dr Moeata Keil brings a deeply relational and Pacific-centred approach to her teaching.
Dr Keil’s unique approach which extends from redesigning curriculums to embed Pacific and Indigenous worldviews.
Moeata adopts a “no one gets left behind” philosophy – where she personally follows up with her students that haven’t submitted assignments, reassuring them that they are valued and their success matters.
Moeata has also co-led the university’s first cross-institutional Pacific Early Career Academic Network (PECAN), which now supports 85 Pacific educators and students.
“In receiving the award Dr Moeata Keil is an exceptional educator whose teaching practice is both transformative and deeply student-centred..
“Her teaching scores, which consistently exceed academic, faculty, and university benchmarks, reflect the high regard in which she is held by her students. Moeata fosters a learning environment where students feel seen, heard, and valued..
“Her careful consideration of student success is a testament to her phenomenal praxis. She incorporates their voices directly into her subsequent curriculum delivery and academic mentoring through their own authorship, authentic leadership and presence..
“Moeata’s strengths-based and culturally grounded pedagogy ensures Māori and Pacific students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, creating a sense of belonging and affirmation. By drawing on her personal experiences, she connects deeply with students and enhances conceptual understanding..
“Her “no one gets left behind” philosophy exemplifies her inclusive approach, ensuring every learner is supported to succeed..
Dr Moeata Keil’s practice exemplifies the impact and influence that phenomenal educators have on our Pacific learners, particularly through the strong links with the ten habits from the Phenomenal Educators’ Framework.
In 2024 Dr Moeata Keil had also won an Early Career Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr Keil is the daughter of Britta Forsgren Keil and the late Maposua Rudolf Keil. She was born and raised in Samoa and is from the villages of Vaimea, Moamoa and Afiamalu. Moeata moved to New Zealand in 2003 to pursue a tertiary education.
Malo le tauivi, Malo le fa’asoa, Malo le tautua mo le lumana’i o alo ma fanau Pasefika i totonu o Aotearoa.
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