We have now made the working draft of Te Pae Tawhiti, the Te Pūkenga Tiriti o Waitangi excellence framework available online.
We are focused on ensuring our services work well and respond with excellence to the needs of Māori learners and their whānau, and the aspirations of iwi and Māori communities throughout Aotearoa. This objective is driven from our legislative mandate, our Charter, regulatory guidance, and from the will of our governing Council and Leadership.
To support the implementation of Te Pae Tawhiti, Te Pūkenga has assigned a team of Kaitautoko. Led by our Kaitautoko, Te Pūkenga have started working with the wider whānau across our network to use our Te Tiriti o Waitangi excellence framework to guide us in our work. It has been an exciting time as we build our capacity and capability across Te Pūkenga to ensure we deliver on our mandate, and in particular - to honour and give effect to Te Tiriti, and to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori.
The key starting point for all of us in using Te Pae Tawhiti is self-reflective practice. Each subsidiary has specific internal champions who are working alongside the Te Pūkenga Partnership and Equity team to ensure the success of this mahi, given its prominence and importance overall. Demonstrating what actions are being undertaken has also helped many to identify what their plans for 2021-2022 are. We are already seeing examples of good practice that have both regional relevance but also could form national application.
Te Pae Tawhiti provides guidance in the form of key questions, and will assist in ensuring shift-of-scale across the entire network, ensuring consistency of service helping embed best practice. The reflective practice aspect includes self-assessment against key indicators, linked to Te Arawhiti Māori/Crown Relations Office capability frameworks. For each of us we are asking what can our organisations do to further Te Tiriti o Waitangi excellence and in my role what will I do to make a difference?
In 2021 we will also engage with transitional ITOs and other organisations within the education sector to introduce Te Pae Tawhiti, and we’ll work together and continue our collective hikoi.
Te Pūkenga CE, Stephen Town says, “Collectively, we have a unique opportunity to truly rebalance the scales and ensure more equitable outcomes are achieved in the vocational education sector for Māori learners, employers, whānau and hapori. We are united and committed to that goal.”
Note that Te Pae Tawhiti is a working draft and a living document that will be reviewed and evolve as we engage collaboratively along the transformation pathway. If you would like to give your feedback on Te Pae Tawhiti, we’d be pleased to receive your input. Please email info@tepukenga.ac.nz and let us know your thoughts and suggestions.