Mana Taiohi

EXPLORE

• Engage with young people you work with to identify what their strengths are and how they could support needs they see in their family, whānau or community.
• See the Hononga section of Mana Taiohi for guidance on how to identify your community and strengthen key connections.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Identify your own organisational strengths, resources in your team and discuss how these can be used to enhance your work with young people. See resources below for possible trainers.

• Embed a strengths-based approach across your organisation’s work with individual or groups of young people. See resources below for possible trainers.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Mana – Strengths-based Principle means
• Check out the following clauses from Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa:
  • 16 Āhua Pononga/Working Positively
• Read the Mana section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Youth Development Research in Aotearoa
• Find out more about the strengths-based approach here:
  • Strengths Network South Pacific
  • 40 Developmental Assets
  • 5 C’s
  • Circle of Courage
  • Aotearoa-based indigenous models that are inherently strengths-based such as Te Whare Tapa Wha
  • VIA
  • Te Wheke
  • 5 Column Tool
  • Find training on the 5 Column Tool here

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Have a discussion with your team about how you could create more space for young people to develop their identity.

• Identify and seek training from a disability provider to assist in making appropriate adaptations to your programme to cater for all levels of abilities. You could check out Enabling Good Lives for ideas on how to support people with mixed abilities.

• Engage with Te Ngākau Kahukura, Rainbow Training and Guidance for the Youth Sector, local Rainbow organisations or gender-specific organisations to develop your organisation’s competency in this space.

• Identify local groups who you could seek support from to upskill in the area of culture and traditions, e.g. local marae, cultural centre, church, mosque, etc.

• Identify local groups who you could seek support from to upskill in the area of interests, e.g. sports, arts, music, cultural activities, etc.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Mauri Principle means
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 15 Hakapakaritanga/Working Holistically
• Read the Mauri section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research.

You have shown understanding of the importance of whakapapa and have structures in place to ensure young people are supported to learn the stories of their ancestors and to find their turangawaewae. Tino pai tāu mahi!

You are a leader in the sector when it comes to young people knowing and discovering their whakapapa and an absolute asset to youth development in Aotearoa.

• Take the time to celebrate as an organisation your strengths and areas of transformative practice!
• We’d love to hear more about what you’re doing and please let us know if you’d be willing to be a tuakana to others in the sector.
• You could consider presenting on your mahi at Involve, youth work hui, research symposium or other conferences (see here for a calendar of events), sharing your learning and resources with others through local networks, Ara Taiohi or other means, celebrating your work with young people and the community, or getting your programmes or services reviewed or researched so that the knowledge can be more widely shared.
• And there’s always more we can do! We’d encourage you to consider how you can maintain and consolidate your level of practice, particularly making sure that knowledge is held across the organisation. See below for reading and resources.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Whakapapa Principle means.
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 10 Utu Painga – Personal Agendas
  • 12 Āhua me ta Oranga/ Diversity and Cultural Safety
  • 25 Māramatia/ Understanding Aotearoa
• Read the Whakapapa section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research
• Māorimaps.com to find iwi connections.
• Kaiparahuarahi

You have shown understanding of the importance of hononga and recognise all the connected relationships in a young person’s world (whānau, peers, school, the community), and the places and spaces that nourish these.

You are a leader in the sector when it comes to young people identifying and strengthening these connections and an absolute asset to youth development in Aotearoa.

• Take the time to celebrate as an organisation your strengths and areas of transformative practice!
• We’d love to hear more about what you’re doing and please let us know if you’d be willing to be a tuakana to others in the sector.
• You could consider presenting on your mahi at Involve, youth work hui, research symposium or other conferences (see here for a calendar of events), sharing your learning and resources with others through local networks, Ara Taiohi or other means, celebrating your work with young people and the community, or getting your programmes or services reviewed or researched so that the knowledge can be more widely shared.
• And there’s always more we can do! We’d encourage you to consider how you can maintain and consolidate your level of practice, particularly making sure that knowledge is held across the organisation. See below for reading and resources.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Hononga Principle means
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 12 Āhua me ta Oranga/ Diversity and Cultural Safety
  • 13 Papakainga – Ensuring Key Connections
  • 14 Tautauamoa – Working Collaboratively
• See
  • BronfenBrenner’s 4 Worlds Tool,
  • HEEADSSS (used in a strengths-based way) or
  • Te Whare Tapa Wha for ideas on a framework.
• Also
  • MyRivr,
  • the Family Services Directory
  • and your local networks could provide practical avenues to connect young people to these key social environments.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Develop or review your policy and implementation plan to ensure Te Tiriti o Waitangi is considered in all of your work.

• Incorporate activities with young people into your service provision where they explore themselves in relation to local, regional, national and international contexts.

• Incorporate into your orientation and ongoing practice training on human rights and discrimination training for all staff working with young people.

• Discuss with your team how macro factors affect young people such as UNCROC, Child Youth Wellbeing Strategy and Youth Action Plan and ways that you could respond to these.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Te Ao Taiohi Principle means
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 22 Ōu Tikanga – Rights and Responsibilities
  • 24 Kawenga – Agents of Change

EXPLORE

• Identify potential areas in your relationships with young people that could be abused for personal, professional, religious, political or financial gain. Consider face-to-face, online and unconscious bias.
  • You could use Clause 4 Puatatanga – Being Transparent
  • Clause 10 Utu Painga – Personal Agendas
  • and Clause 19 Matatau – Personal Awareness of the Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa to help guide discussions.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Embed the practice of maintaining the primary relationship with the young person into orientation and/or hold a refresher training. Develop and implement self-reflective processes in your organisation.

• Document and embed across your organisation how you build quality relationships with young people to enable authentic relationships regardless of whether the young person is mandated to work with your organisation. Youth work skills are essential to ensure success in working effectively with young people, especially when their participation is not voluntary.

• Embed the Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa New Zealand into your induction, refreshers and ongoing reflective practice sessions.

• Develop a policy and embed across the organisation which allow all staff members who work directly with young people sufficient time to build relationships with the young people they work with and within reasonable ratios, within funding constraints.

• Establish group processes and expectations on appropriate behaviour for all team members when at work and not at work including debriefing processes when ethical issues arise. This could be process-oriented or a code of conduct.
• Hold courageous conversations when ethical issues do arise that supports everyone involved to come to a positive resolution going forward.

• Review or develop policies and procedures that identify how your organisation informs young people of the services you offer, the nature of their involvement and any risks.

• Build relationships to enhance active networks which can be used for referrals.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Whanaungatanga Principle means.
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 1-12 in the Quality Relationships Section
  • 19 Matatau – Personal Awareness
• Read the Whanaungatanga section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research
• Code of Ethics Trainers (Contact Ara Taiohi for more information)
• NZ Youth Mentoring Network Resources

EXPLORE

• Learn more about the value of supervision and identify how to provide supervision (within your funding constraints) for all staff working directly with young people.

• Review recruitment processes to ensure that all people recruited to work with young people are suitably qualified, experienced or trained to work with young people. You could use the Korowai Tupu Core Competencies as a guide.

• Provide your team with opportunities to access training in the Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa.
• Contact Ara Taiohi for more information.

• Identify how feedback from young people could be incorporated to ensure a supportive and caring environment is created for all young people. You could use a holistic model like Te Whare Tapa Wha to support this process.

• Review any legislative changes to do with young people and identify any changes that need to be made to your organisation. You could check out Community Net, Youth Law, your local Community Law Centre or Citizen’s Advice Bureau for information on the latest changes.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Identify and embed regular individual and group processes which support self-care and reflective practice in your organisation.

• Review your risk management policy to ensure best practice in working with young people. For example we recommend checking out either Community Net or reaching out to your networks for support or assistance. Most organisations are very willing to share their policy docs.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Whanaungatanga Principle means.
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 6 Noho Matatapu – Confidentiality
  • 7 Āhua Tika – Boundaries
  • 17 Tiakitanga – Looking After Yourself
  • 18 Whakahaeretanga – Supervision
  • 19 Matatau – Personal Awareness
  • 23 Ngā Mahi Ora – Safe Practice
• Read the Manaakitanga section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research
• Supervision Scrapbook
• Supervisor Directory
• Korowai Tupu Core Competencies
• Korowai Tupu Accredited Courses
• Korowai Tupu Membership
• Code of Ethics Trainers (contact Ara Taiohi for more information)

EXPLORE

• Discuss how young people could be involved in management and governance of your programmes, services and your whole organisation. Some things you might want to consider are: models of youth participation (e.g. youth reps, advisory groups, tuakana teina, etc), training for the governance group on youth development. You may want to refer to Rata Foundation & Centre for Social Impact’s work on young people in governance.
  • If your organisation does not work directly with young people then consider engaging with community organisations who work with young people to enable more in-depth engagement.

• Explore within your organisation how young people could participate in formal staff or management roles in your organisation. This could be in a paid or voluntary capacity.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Explore and then implement the best approach for youth participation in your organisation.

• Discuss and implement how youth participation can look across different cultural contexts and engage with young people and representatives of specific groups you are working with to support best practice in your organisation.

• Identify and implement improvements to feedback processes based on discussing with young people engaging with your service.

• Develop an ongoing process for use in the development and evaluation of any programmes and services which captures how you seek input from young people. We’d recommend reaching out to organisations you know who do this well for advice or support.

• Review your existing policies and processes to ensure best practice for young people who are in governance roles in your organisation. This could be in a paid or voluntary capacity.

• Review and embed within your existing programmes and services how you could provide more opportunities for young people to raise their concerns, have an active voice in their community and encourage more youth-led advocacy.

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Whai Wahitanga Principle means
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses
  • 16 Āhua Pononga – Working Positively
  • 20 Hiringa – Personal Determination
  • 21 Hakamanatia – Empowerment
• Read the Mana section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research
• UNCROC 9 Principles of Participation
• HART’s Ladder
• SHIRE’S Pathway
• Ani Wierenga’s Star Model
• Rata Foundation & Centre for Social Impact’s work on young people in governance

EXPLORE

• Review your organisation against a youth development framework. Some options include: Mana Taiohi Youth Development Principles Aotearoa, 5 C’s, 40 Developmental Assets or other strengths-based framework such as Te Whare Tapa Wha.

DEVELOP AND EMBED

• Embed policy on professional development to ensure ongoing professional development needs are met, that all team members are operating to best practice standards and that you have the opportunity to celebrate successes.
  • This could include presenting at or attending conferences such as Involve, supporting youth workers to become Korowai Tupu Members.

• Incorporate new youth development research or legislation into team meetings and/or performance management processes.

• Implement induction and refresher training for all staff to ensure that everyone is working to best practice in youth development. Consider non-formal learning opportunities such as conversations with young people or community members.
• Some key areas are:
  • Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa
  • Legislative changes (e.g. child protection, health and safety, human rights.)
  • New cultural communities
  • Rainbow communities
  • Supervision and reflective practice
  • Te Tiriti o Waitangi, colonisation and decolonisation
  • Youth development
  • Youth participation

• Learn more about what the Mana Taiohi Mātauranga – Youth Participation Principle means.
• Check out the following Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa clauses:
  • 25 Māramatia – Understanding Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 26 Mana Akoranga – Training and Professional Development
  • 27 Rangahau me Wāriutanga – Research and Evaluation
• Read the Mātauranga section of Ngā Tikanga Whānaketanga – He Arotake Tuhinga, our Review of Aotearoa New Zealand Youth Development Research
• Involve
• Korowai Tupu Membership
• Youth Work Courses
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi