New social services course for Kaitaia
A free course that will be offered in Kaitaia for the first time next year will provide the opportunity to learn skills and benefit the community according to Te Wa¯nanga o Aotearoa and kaiako (tutor) Edith Tatana.
Ms Tatana said the Manaaki Ta¯ngata Certificate in Bicultural Social Services (Level 4) would benefit those working in social services, and anyone who was looking to help their community.
“The good thing about this course is it’s not just for those in the social services sector, it’s for anyone involved in caregiving, support workers, mental health workers; it provides skills that can be used in many different directions,” she said.
The year-long course would teach relationship-building skills, bicultural approaches to social services, how to strengthen and enhance wha¯nau, hapu¯, iwi and community wellbeing, and ways to support wha¯nau.
“It teaches you to look at our own values of wha¯naungatanga, manaakitanga, tino rangatiratanga, and how that looks in your wha¯nau, hapu¯, iwi, community,” Ms Tatana added.
“I think everyone can benefit from the course. A lot of people with life experience to reflect on often don’t know what skills they have themselves.”
She believed the programme had huge potential in Kaitaia, providing good professional development for those already in the workforce and leading to further employment or education pathways, including the Nga¯ Poutoko Whakarara Oranga Bachelor of Bicultural Social Work ¯degree (Level 5-7), He Korowai Akonga Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching), Maunga Kura Toi Bachelor of Ma¯ori Art and the Bachelor of Ma¯ori Advancement degree.
The programme took a bicultural approach that was underpinned by Ma¯ori principles and offered an introductory understanding of social services in New Zealand. Ms Tatana had previously run the course in West Auckland.
“We had a few solo mums who had little faith in themselves, even their own literacy and numeracy. As the course went on their self-esteem and that ‘can do’ attitude builds, and now they’re all enrolled in the degree and have finished their first year,” she said.
Part of the programme involved creating a community project, which benefited more than just the students.
“They put the project together and present it to their community. Some ran a holiday programme for tamariki at their marae, and that brought them back to their marae. Others wanted to enhance te reo in their community, so they set up a Facebook page and organised to go with wha¯nau back to their marae for those who had never been back.”
Anyone interested should call in at the Kaitaia campus of Te Wa¯nanga o Aotearoa, or go to https://www.twoa.ac.nz/NgaAkoranga-Our-Programmes/ Social-Services/Certificate-inBicultural-Social-Services