Derby, MelissaMacfarlane, Sonja2021-07-272021-07-272021Derby, M., & Macfarlane, S. (2021). From the rākau to the ngākau. The New Zealand Annual Review of Education, 26, 116–122. https://doi.org/10.26686/nzaroe.v26.69001171-3283https://hdl.handle.net/10289/14490The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in Aotearoa New Zealand has funded 11 National Science Challenges (NSC), which aim to tackle a series of big questions affecting wellbeing in society. One Challenge, A Better Start: E Tipu E Rea, is investigating four key focus areas that children encounter in their early development and is seeking to identify the factors that contribute to forming a solid foundation for fostering wellbeing and lifelong success. Central to the principles of this Challenge is the Treaty of Waitangi in that the Treaty provides a framework to guide whānau engagement, policy change, and praxis. This article describes how a ‘ngākau’ rather than a ‘rākau’ approach to shaping research inquiry within this Challenge facilitates more authentic and mana-enhancing whānau engagement in research interactions (Macfarlane, 2019). The development of a whānau questionnaire is drawn on to illustrate the ngākau approach in practice.application/pdfenThis article is published in the New Zealand Annual Review of Education. Used with permission.researchcollaborationMāoriwellbeingJournal Article10.26686/nzaroe.v26.69001178-3311