Kaumatua, or elders, in an eastern Bay of Plenty community are designing a Ngai Tai iwi curriculum to implement in schools in the district of Opotiki.
Kaumatua are already teaching life skills such as growing and curing kumara to students at Te Kura o Torere, from time to time.
The iwi curriculum is intended to cover such areas as the Maori language and Maori protocols.
A local kaumatua, Muriwai Jones, says elders have a responsibility to hand down core values and the knowledge base of an iwi.
She says it's a huge task, collecting the information from kaumatua.
Ms Jones says they are designing a Ngati Tai profile which can be used by rangatahi, or young people, throughout their lives.
She says the iwi curriculum has been noticed by the Ministry of Educaiton.