Breathing life into Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori equity key to learner success at Te Pukenga

A new report shows boosted outcomes for Māori and te whakatinanatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti in practice) will be key to learner success as Te Pūkenga prepares to take flight from January 2023.

Te Pae Tawhiti Insights Report is the most comprehensive piece of Te Tiriti o Waitangi self-reflective work undertaken to date in the vocational education sector. A summary video is available here.

“The network has taken a good look at themselves through a Te Tiriti o Waitangi excellence lens. This brought to light a range of good practices that we will share across our network – and areas we must focus on to grow and improve our own capability,” says Te Pūkenga Deputy Chief Executive Partnerships and Equity Ana Morrison.

Activity already happening across the network which could be scaled to increase its impact, includes:

• sharing strategic approaches, examples of mana ōrite agreements and co-governance arrangements with hapū and iwi
• regional collaborations with iwi, and Māori health, social and education providers
• taking holistic approaches to Māori learner success and wellbeing, including through Kaupapa Māori services and spaces
• capable, empowered and connected Māori leadership across governance, management and operations.

The report also identified key growth areas, including:

• addressing racism and bias that remains in the system
• developing and applying a consistent approach to partnership with tangata whenua
• addressing the deprioritisation of Māori worldviews and Kaupapa Māori services
• enabling system-wide support for existing collaboration
• protecting, preserving and enhancing existing partnerships.

These insights strongly align with our recently released Te Rito – Insights From Learners Report and together can inform mahi to enable learner success. Insight examples from Te Rito include things like:

• The pathway into learning is an anxious time – guidance to find the right path early, access to apprenticeships, an easy enrolment, gaining familiarity and meaningful early connections can build learner confidence.
• Early and whānau-connected support, which was targeted, individualised, and met the wide range of holistic needs, helps learners stay on track.
• Whānaunga and manaakitanga relationships with staff, better connections with employers, and sharing ideas with mentors and tuākana all help learners to feel welcomed and enhance their sense of belonging.
• Successful outcomes for Māori learners is wider than individual gain. Their whānau and community’s prosperity is part of individual success.

“We will transform the status quo and deliver equitable outcomes for Māori. We also have a really exciting opportunity to build a national vocational education community who work together cohesively and collaborate in all we do – mahi ngātahi – providing learning that ensure Māori learners thrive” says Ana.

These insights will inform and influence the mahi across Te Pūkenga, including the development of the organisation’s new way of working. Ongoing reporting will also continue to monitor and understand our progress towards Te Tiriti o Waitangi excellence.

“The work we will do out of this report will ensure we create an organisation and its people that are responsive to the needs of, and improve outcomes for, Māori learners, whānau, hapū and iwi, in partnership with Māori,” says Ana.

With Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a foundation, and ākonga and their whānau at the heart of the organisation, Te Pūkenga will be easily accessible to learners while also meeting the needs of employers.

The summary video is available here and the full Te Pae Tawhiti Insights Overview Report is available here.