A new Te Wānanga o Aotearoa qualification offers tauira a pathway into tertiary study and the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to their whānau, hapū, iwi and their communities.
 
Manaaki Tangata: Certificate of Bicultural Social Services teaches tauira about biculturalism and applied practice principles that are underpinned by a sound cultural grounding and awareness.

As the name suggests, it helps tauira to make a difference in the social services by combining their life experiences and their learning from the course to transform their lives and others in their communities.

The Level 4 certificate is taught across 16 different campuses throughout the country and is among the new Te Wānanga o Aotearoa programmes offered in 2017 as a result of the NZQA targetted review of qualifications.

Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata, who is the Pouārahi: Hauora, says the programme’s point of difference is that it meets multiple needs for tauira.  
She says it's grounded in mātauranga Māori and has a great fit with TWoA’s vision of whānau transformation through education.

“It essentially asks the tauira to consider the fundamental role of manaaki tangata.”

“It’s not just a pathway into our social work degree, it’s much broader and really encompasses people who work with whānau, hapū and iwi and in the community.” 

“It’s for people who are at the beginning level of their learning and want to understand the nature of their roles in their communities and whakapapa groups.”

Jodie Owen, who is the programme Kaiārahi, said Manaaki Tangata would likely appeal to working people who are just starting on a learning pathway but may then want to consider pursuing a higher qualification. 

"It helps them to experience success in the classroom – particularly if they haven’t had success before in an education setting.”

“It’s a pathway into a whole range of diploma and/or degree programmes.  It is a stepping stone to where they might want to go. It helps them discover strengths they might not have realised they had.”

“These people might be administrators, caregivers, or community volunteers and may want to learn more about how to work from a whakaaro Māori perspective.”

The programme is one of more than 30 new programmes that have been added to the course provision and delivery of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa for 2017.