Tania M. Ka'ai, sometimes known as Tania Kaai-Oldman,^[3] is a New Zealand education academic. She is a full professor of language revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology.^[4]

Ka'ai earned a 1995 education PhD from the University of Waikato, with a thesis titled ' Te tātari i te kaupapa' , which looked at ways the New Zealand qualifications framework could be used as a tool for indigenous knowledge to be integrated and recognised as a valid part of the education system in New Zealand.^[5][6] After working at the University of Otago,^[7][8] from which she was stood down in contentious circumstances,^[9] Ka'ai moved to the Auckland University of Technology with John Moorfield.^[4] Notable students include Diane Charlie-Puna and Hana O'Regan.^[10][11]

Ka'ai's research is centred on learning of indigenous languages (particularly te reo) in formal and semi-formal educational settings. She is a strong advocate for te reo being compulsory in New Zealand schools.^[12]

• Ka'ai, Tania. Introduction to Māori culture and society. Longman, 2004.
• Ka'ai, Tania M., and Rawinia Higgins. "Te ao Māori–Māori world-view." Ki Te Whaiao–An Introduction to Māori Culture and Society. Auckland: Pearson Education (2004): 13–25.
• Jenkins, Kuni, and Tania Ka’ai. "Maori education: A cultural experience and dilemma for the state–a new direction for Maori society." The politics of learning and teaching in Aotearoa–New Zealand (1994): 79–148.
• Ka’ai, Tania. "Te hiringa taketake: Mai i te Kohanga Reo i te kura= Maori pedagogy: te Kohanga Reo and the transition to school." MSc Thesis, ResearchSpace@ Auckland, 1990.
• Ka'ai, Tania. "Te mana o te reo me ngā tikanga: Power and politics of the language." (2004).

Ka'ai is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Native Hawaiian, Cook Island Māori, and Samoan descent.^[13]