John Wehipeihana was born in Napier and was educated at Stratford District High School and Taihape District High School. He went on to study at Victoria University of Wellington from 1956-59 and Christchurch Secondary Teachers’ College in 1960, graduating with a Dip. Tchg in 1960 and an MA (Hons) in 1964. From 1964-65, he was a recipient of a Rotary Foundation Fellowship and studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Wehipeihana has worked as a secondary school teacher for most of his career; he has taught at Kapiti College, Te Aute College, St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College, and Hastings Boys’ High School. He was Director of the Hawke’s Bay Outpost (Sec. Tchr. Training) and has been a part-time tutor at the Wellington Polytechnic. In 1980 he received the Woolf Fisher Award.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence from John Wehipeihana on 9 Dec. 2004.
- “People and Places.” Te Ao Hou 47 (1964): 26-27.
Non-fiction
- "Māoritanga and its educational significance." Multi-Cultural School 1 (1975): 14-17.
- Wehipeihana discusses how Māoritanga can be incorporated into schools with particular reference to that practiced at Te Aute College. This text was part of a Te Aute staff and students submission to Mr Amos [Minister of Education at the time] on the future of Te Aute.
- "Flying Boldly in the Face of Fear." Press [Christchurch] 20 Mar. 2001.
- Te Aute College: Koiri, 1854-2004. Ed. John Wehipeihana. Napier, N.Z.: Te Aute College, 2005.