Kaitiakitanga - Postgraduate Diploma in Bicultural Professional Supervision

Take your practice to the next level by developing the bicultural skills needed to supervise, and support your staff and peers.

Bicultural professional supervision is for those who want to gain a postgraduate diploma in professional supervision that has a unique point of difference in that it uses mātauranga Māori approaches as the core of its supervision curriculum in a range of different disciplines. 

Graduates of this programme will have the knowledge, practice, skills and attributes to make a positive difference as kaitiaki/supervisors by effectively working alongside whānau, hapū, iwi and communities.

When you pass this programme, you'll get this qualification:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Bicultural Professional Supervision Level 8

• Kaitiakitanga and its purpose and obligations within practice contexts and industry
• the practice of Kaitiakitanga / professional supervision informed by Māori and non-Māori worldviews
• the contextualisation of Kaitiakitanga within the practice of professional bicultural supervision to a practice context
• developing your own model of Kaitiakitanga practice and integrating this into your professional context
• addressing the need for confident, competent, conscious practitioners in a range of different disciplines

This is a full-time programme that consists of 120 credits delivered over 38 weeks. Throughout the programme you will be required to attend:

• 32 x wānanga whāiti (3 hours per week)
• 7 x noho marae (18 hours)
• 1 x 1-day wānanga (8 hours)
• 1 x national conference (18 hours, attendance is compulsory)

In addition to these you’ll be expected to complete learning activities designed to enhance your learning for approximately:

• 26.5 hours per week

Some of the learning activities will need to be completed online. You'll need to have access to an internet-connected device for this programme.

To enrol in this programme, a potential student must:

• be a New Zealand citizen or resident (or citizen of Australia, Tokelau, Niue or the Cook Islands
• reside in New Zealand
• hold a relevant undergraduate degree and two years' relevant professional practice
• provide supportive references from two appropriate people within the professional practice discipline and/or provide two kaitiaki letters of support from hapū, iwi, or community groups

Candidates who have not gained a relevant undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification may submit evidence of current professional practice and/or kaitiaki practice in a portfolio, as well as:

• participate in a professional conversation to assess their suitability to enter the qualification
• provide evidence of at least five years relevant professional practice

Apply to enrol on our master's programme - He Waka Hiringa - Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge Level 9.

Your practice of Kaitiakitanga can be applied across multiple disciplines such as social work, health, nursing, midwifery, counselling, education, community and iwi/hapū.

The 2025 fees for this Postgraduate Diploma are:

• $6,676 GST inclusive

Are you eligible for fees-free study?

The Government has announced a final-year Fees Free policy starting from 1 January 2025.

If you are a first-time tertiary learner in 2025, you may be eligible for Fees Free support in your final year of study. You still need to arrange payment of programme fees to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Once you have completed your first qualification you may be able to claim the fees back from the IRD from 2026 onwards.

For more information about the final-year Fees Free policy, visit: feesfree.govt.nz.

Mōhiotanga | 30 Credits

The first kōnae ako (module) focuses on the notions and processes of ‘āta wetewete’: of humanistic de-construction, critical to more effectively revealing and unpacking layers of insights, knowing, interpretations and understandings, in the pursuit of creating more conscientising approaches, processes and practices of kaitiakitanga in the context of supervision. In acknowledgement of the bodies of knowledge and levels of experience that each student has, they will be invited to explore and represent, ‘ko wai au’, who they are: ‘talking back to’ principled positionings, Māori and non-Māori bodies of knowledge and processes that have fashioned their ‘kaitiakitanga’ applications in supervision contexts. Students will then explore how and why bicultural choices can be proactively utilised in kaitiakitanga / supervisory situations. 

Māramatanga | 30 Credits

This second kōnae ako will guide students through a process of hui, kōrero, and wānanga, examining how their personal experience has shaped their beliefs and practices in supervision. They will explore Māori and non-Māori bodies of knowledge to critically evaluate the practice of supervision, and to critique how supervision is applied within specific bicultural contexts.  

Hōhonutanga | 30 Credits

This third kōnae ako is about moving from a position of unknowing into a journey of te māhorahora/emancipation and te hangahoutia/transformation. Students will be focused on applying and refining an emerging model of practice based on their rangahau, and exploration of Māori and non-Māori bodies of knowledge. The model will be shaped by developing an understanding of the contextualisation of kaitiakitanga within the practice of professional bicultural supervision to a practice context. Students will be repositioning themselves from kaimahi/supervisee to kaitiaki/supervisor. 

Mauri Ora | 30 Credits

The fourth, and final, kōnae ako revolves around the student refining and articulating the outcomes of their rangahau in a conference setting. This is presenting a practice framework that is based on a mana enhancing kaitiaki model. The practice being presented has evolved from a bicultural supervision model to that of kaitiakitanga in a given practice context.