Tapiata has worked as a primary and secondary school teacher. He was a vocational guidance officer and a Specialist Adviser in Māori Education in the New Zealand Department of Education. He has worked as a lecturer in Polynesian Studies at Palmerston North Teachers’ College.
Biographical sources
- Polynesian and Pakeha in New Zealand Education. Ed. Douglas H. Bray and Clement G. H. Hill. Vol. 2. Ethnic Difference and the School. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1974. 246.
Non-fiction
- "The Teaching of Māori Language in Schools." Polynesian and Pakeha in New Zealand Education. Ed. Douglas H. Bray and Clement G. H. Hill. Vol. 2. Ethnic Difference and the School. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann Educational Books, 1974. 128-134..
- Co-authored with T. K. Royal.