TANGATA WHENUA SOCIAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION FORMED (Waatea News, Nov 20,2009)
Maori social workers have formed their own association.
About 100 of the country's 1000 Maori social workers gathered at Pukaki Marae in Mangere day to launch Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association.
Kaumatua Taotahi Pihama says the group will support Maori working for mainstream and iwi providers, and help train new kaimahi to operate effectively with Maori whanau.
He says it will build on work done by previous generations since the first Maori graduate social worker, John Rangihau, in the 1950s.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fostering review looking in wrong place for touble
FOSTERING REVIEW LOOKING IN WRONG PLACE FOR TROUBLE (Waatea News, 17 Nov 2009).
A veteran Maori social worker says a review of foster care needs to take a Maori way of seeing the world.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has asked whether children placed with extended family are better off than those fostered outside the family, in light of high re-abuse rates for children in whanau care.
But Malcolm Peri, who was involved in the maatua whangai programmes of the 1980s which championed whanau-based care, says Ms Bennett's department has squeezed the kaupapa Maori aspects out of its work with children.
“I can't remember any real effort in the last 20 years the system has put in place to to strengthen Maori families from te ao Maori and I don’t think they give us credit for things Maori have progressed, for the families have been placed with families and have been healed,” Mr Peri says.
He says abandoning Maori programmes would mean going back to failed assimilation policies.
A veteran Maori social worker says a review of foster care needs to take a Maori way of seeing the world.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has asked whether children placed with extended family are better off than those fostered outside the family, in light of high re-abuse rates for children in whanau care.
But Malcolm Peri, who was involved in the maatua whangai programmes of the 1980s which championed whanau-based care, says Ms Bennett's department has squeezed the kaupapa Maori aspects out of its work with children.
“I can't remember any real effort in the last 20 years the system has put in place to to strengthen Maori families from te ao Maori and I don’t think they give us credit for things Maori have progressed, for the families have been placed with families and have been healed,” Mr Peri says.
He says abandoning Maori programmes would mean going back to failed assimilation policies.
Friday, November 13, 2009
New Zealand Government showing interest in Maori-style social services
Govt showing interest in Maori-style social services by Simon Collins, NZ Herald Sat Nov 14, 2009
A radical reshaping of all social services could be imminent if the Government goes ahead with a Maori Party plan to reform services for Maori.
National Party ministers appear to implicitly support Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia's plan to bundle multiple contracts for Maori health, education, housing, justice and social services into integrated "Whanau Ora" contracts covering the whole spectrum of services for regional groups of Maori whanau.
A key worker would be appointed for each family under contracts giving Maori agencies wide scope to co-ordinate support for each family, rather than measuring numbers of doctor's visits and hours of social work, for example.
The plan is inspired by longstanding Maori ambitions for self-determination.
But if it goes ahead, it may be impossible to confine it to Maori families because Maori are now enmeshed in wider New Zealand society. About half the 565,000 people who identified themselves as "Maori" in the 2006 Census also identified with at least one other ethnic group, and half partnered Maori were living with non-Maori partners.
Virtually all the country's 270 Maori health providers, and all 11 Maori-led primary healthcare organisations (PHOs) which have formed a coalition to bid for a Whanau Ora contract, have non-Maori as well as Maori clients.
Mrs Turia said the idea "can be utilised across any ethnic group".
"We are starting with the Maori sector because they are the ones who have constantly raised this with me since I have been in Parliament," she said.
"All we are doing is moving it to that sector and eventually it would move to others as well. The Pacific Island people and the ethnic migrant groups are very keen on this concept because they understand the role of the extended family.
"People get trapped in having to work in a Eurocentric way with their people and they shouldn't have to be."
Submissions on a discussion paper on Whanau Ora close on November 30, and a taskforce led by Professor Mason Durie is to present final proposals to ministers by the end of January.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Tony Ryall last week named the Maori PHO coalition as one of nine consortiums to submit detailed plans by February 15 for new integrated primary healthcare services which may include Whanau Ora proposals.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has also approved a "high-trust" funding trial, bundling all her ministry's contracts into one at Te Tohu o te Ora o Ngati Awa (Ngati Awa Social and Health Services) in Whakatane and at a Catholic youth service in Christchurch.
A radical reshaping of all social services could be imminent if the Government goes ahead with a Maori Party plan to reform services for Maori.
National Party ministers appear to implicitly support Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia's plan to bundle multiple contracts for Maori health, education, housing, justice and social services into integrated "Whanau Ora" contracts covering the whole spectrum of services for regional groups of Maori whanau.
A key worker would be appointed for each family under contracts giving Maori agencies wide scope to co-ordinate support for each family, rather than measuring numbers of doctor's visits and hours of social work, for example.
The plan is inspired by longstanding Maori ambitions for self-determination.
But if it goes ahead, it may be impossible to confine it to Maori families because Maori are now enmeshed in wider New Zealand society. About half the 565,000 people who identified themselves as "Maori" in the 2006 Census also identified with at least one other ethnic group, and half partnered Maori were living with non-Maori partners.
Virtually all the country's 270 Maori health providers, and all 11 Maori-led primary healthcare organisations (PHOs) which have formed a coalition to bid for a Whanau Ora contract, have non-Maori as well as Maori clients.
Mrs Turia said the idea "can be utilised across any ethnic group".
"We are starting with the Maori sector because they are the ones who have constantly raised this with me since I have been in Parliament," she said.
"All we are doing is moving it to that sector and eventually it would move to others as well. The Pacific Island people and the ethnic migrant groups are very keen on this concept because they understand the role of the extended family.
"People get trapped in having to work in a Eurocentric way with their people and they shouldn't have to be."
Submissions on a discussion paper on Whanau Ora close on November 30, and a taskforce led by Professor Mason Durie is to present final proposals to ministers by the end of January.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Tony Ryall last week named the Maori PHO coalition as one of nine consortiums to submit detailed plans by February 15 for new integrated primary healthcare services which may include Whanau Ora proposals.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has also approved a "high-trust" funding trial, bundling all her ministry's contracts into one at Te Tohu o te Ora o Ngati Awa (Ngati Awa Social and Health Services) in Whakatane and at a Catholic youth service in Christchurch.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
New book: Braiding Histories:Learning from Aboriginal People's Experiences and Perspectives by Dr Susan Dion
Kia ora all, I went to Susan's presentation on her new book Braiding Histories and enjoyed the depth of how she represents Aboriginal peoples and their voices. The chance to learn more about a pedagogy that reflects Aboriginal subject material gave me insight into better paradigms for teaching content and activities. Awesome book and awesome author, see this site for more info http://www.eurospanbookstore.com/display.asp?k=9780774815185& Taima
Braiding Histories:Learning from Aboriginal People's Experiences and Perspectives by Dr Susan Dion
This book proposes a new pedagogy for addressing Aboriginal subject material, shifting the focus from an essentializing or 'othering' exploration of the attributes of Aboriginal people to a focus on historical experiences that inform our understanding of contemporary relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Reflecting on the process of writing a series of stories, Dion takes up questions of (re)presenting the lived experiences of Aboriginal people in the service of pedagogy. Investigating what happened when the stories were taken up in history classrooms, she illustrates how our investments in particular identities structure how we hear and what we are 'willing to know'. "Braiding Histories" illuminates the challenges of speaking/listening and writing/reading across cultural boundaries as an Aboriginal person to communicate Aboriginal experience through education. It will be useful to teachers and students of educational and Native studies and will appeal to readers seeking a better understanding of colonialism and Aboriginal - non-Aboriginal relations.
Braiding Histories:Learning from Aboriginal People's Experiences and Perspectives by Dr Susan Dion
This book proposes a new pedagogy for addressing Aboriginal subject material, shifting the focus from an essentializing or 'othering' exploration of the attributes of Aboriginal people to a focus on historical experiences that inform our understanding of contemporary relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Reflecting on the process of writing a series of stories, Dion takes up questions of (re)presenting the lived experiences of Aboriginal people in the service of pedagogy. Investigating what happened when the stories were taken up in history classrooms, she illustrates how our investments in particular identities structure how we hear and what we are 'willing to know'. "Braiding Histories" illuminates the challenges of speaking/listening and writing/reading across cultural boundaries as an Aboriginal person to communicate Aboriginal experience through education. It will be useful to teachers and students of educational and Native studies and will appeal to readers seeking a better understanding of colonialism and Aboriginal - non-Aboriginal relations.
He Kupu Wakataki: Journal of Best Practice in Applied Maori Indigenous Vocational Education
This looks like another great resource...Taima
MAORI BEST PRACTICE JOURNAL COLLABORATION OF POLYTECHS (in Waatea News Wed, Oct 28,2009)
A new publication aims to highlight the best in Maori in business and education.
He Kupu Wakataki, The Journal of Best Practice in Applied Maori Indigenous Vocational Education, is a collaboration between Tairawhiti Polytechnic, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Northland Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology.
Project manager Mereheeni Hooker says it's timely, given the current economic climate and the growing economic strength of Maori.
The annual journal will also cover the experiences of other indigenous peoples.
MAORI BEST PRACTICE JOURNAL COLLABORATION OF POLYTECHS (in Waatea News Wed, Oct 28,2009)
A new publication aims to highlight the best in Maori in business and education.
He Kupu Wakataki, The Journal of Best Practice in Applied Maori Indigenous Vocational Education, is a collaboration between Tairawhiti Polytechnic, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Northland Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology.
Project manager Mereheeni Hooker says it's timely, given the current economic climate and the growing economic strength of Maori.
The annual journal will also cover the experiences of other indigenous peoples.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Treaty of Waitangi: A Framework for Maori health development by Te Kani Kingi
Kia ora, this is a great article especially for those interested in Maori health development particularly understanding the impacts of Maori health from the time of colonialism to today. In the article are cited self-determination strategies that Maori used to turn a dismal health situation into actions for better Maori health determinants. Good read, its well done. Taima
Abstract:
The Treaty of Waitangi is often described as New Zealand’s founding document. However, and since its first signing on 6 February 1840, confusion and debate has often surrounded its interpretation and application, its value as an historical manuscript and its broader significance to the contemporary development of New Zealand. While there is unlikely to be any clear consensus on the application of the Treaty of Waitangi or what its original intent may have been, this paper considers the relationship between the Treaty and Māori health. How Māori health issues fundamentally informed the shape and design of the Treaty, how these connections have gradually been lost, but how it may provide a framework for contemporary Māori health development.
Kingi, T. R. (2007). The Treaty of Waitangi: A framework for Māori health development. New Zealand Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 54(1), 4-10
Full article can be find at site: http://www.nzaot.com/downloads/contribute/TheTreatyofWaitangiAFrameworkforMaoriHealth.pdf
Abstract:
The Treaty of Waitangi is often described as New Zealand’s founding document. However, and since its first signing on 6 February 1840, confusion and debate has often surrounded its interpretation and application, its value as an historical manuscript and its broader significance to the contemporary development of New Zealand. While there is unlikely to be any clear consensus on the application of the Treaty of Waitangi or what its original intent may have been, this paper considers the relationship between the Treaty and Māori health. How Māori health issues fundamentally informed the shape and design of the Treaty, how these connections have gradually been lost, but how it may provide a framework for contemporary Māori health development.
Kingi, T. R. (2007). The Treaty of Waitangi: A framework for Māori health development. New Zealand Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 54(1), 4-10
Full article can be find at site: http://www.nzaot.com/downloads/contribute/TheTreatyofWaitangiAFrameworkforMaoriHealth.pdf
new Book: Walking This Path Together: Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice, edited by Strega and Carriere
Walking This Path Together: Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice, edited by Susan Strega and Jeannine Carrière (Sohki Aski Esquao). See site: http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/361
This book offers students and experienced practitioners alike the opportunity to explore a range of visions, strategies and concrete skills for anti-racist and anti-oppressive child welfare practice. Significant topics and emerging practice approaches are addressed by contributors who share a passionate commitment to the transformation of child welfare through socially just practices. The book challenges the current Anglo-American child welfare paradigm by centring Indigenous perspectives and voices.
“This collection must be read by all of those wanting to reclaim child welfare practice from its present attention to paper work and management systems to an enterprise focused on social justice for children and families. Emerging and experienced scholars alike grapple with how social workers can change their thinking and acting through adopting anti-oppressive approaches to practice.” — Marilyn Callahan, retired professor of social work, University of Victoria
“Jeannine Carrière, a much respected Aboriginal academic, along with her colleague Susan Strega, have gathered the wisdom of many to create this ground breaking collection on Aboriginal child welfare. I highly recommended it for researchers, policy makers, child welfare workers and community members who are working to ensure that this generation of Aboriginal children has the same opportunity as other Canadian children to live safely at home.“ —Cindy Blackstock, executive director of Caring for First Nations Children Society and member of the Board of Directors for the Child Welfare League of Canada
Contents
* Introduction (Jeannine Carrière and Susan Strega)
* Chapter 1: Children in the Centre: Indigenous Perspectives on Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice (Qwul’sih’yah’maht [Robina Thomas] and Kundouqk [Jacquie Green])
* Chapter 2: “Meeting Here and Now”: Reflections on Racial and Cultural Difference in Social Work Encounters (Donna Jeffery)
* Chapter 3: Race Matters: Social Justice not Assimilation or Cultural Competence (Sarah Maiter)
* Chapter 4: Widening the Circle: Countering Institutional Racism in Child Welfare (Joan Pennell)
* Chapter 5: The Practice of Child Welfare in Indigenous Communities: A Perspective for the Non-Indigenous Social Worker (Christopher Walmsley)
* Chapter 6: Métis Experiences of Social Work Practice (Cathy Richardson)
* Chapter 7: What Parents Say: Service Users’ Theory and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice (Gary Dumbrill and Winnie Lo)
* Chapter 8: Anti-Oppressive Approaches to Assessment, Risk Assessment and Record-Keeping (Susan Strega)
* Chapter 9: Supporting Youth in Care through Anti-Oppressive Practice (April Feduniw)
* Chapter 10: Reconstructing Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment from an Anti-Oppressive Perspective (Henry Parada)
* Chapter 11: Oppressing Mothers: Protection Practices in Situations of Child Sexual Abuse (Julia Krane and Rosemary Carlton)
* Chapter 12: Taking Resistance Seriously: A Response-Based Approach to Social Work in Cases of Violence against Indigenous Women (Cathy Richardson and Allan Wade)
* Chapter 13: Healing Versus Treatment: Substance Misuse, Child Welfare and Indigenous Families (Betty Bastien, Jeannine Carrière and Susan Strega)
* Chapter 14: Engaging With Fathers in Child Welfare (Leslie Brown, Susan Strega, Lena Dominelli, Christopher Walmsley and Marilyn Callahan)
* Chapter 15: Considerations for Cultural Planning and Indigenous Adoptions (Jeannine Carrière and Raven Sinclair)
* Chapter 16: Practicing From the Heart (Carolyn Peacock)
About the Authors
Jeannine Carriére is Métis, originally from the Red River area of southern Manitoba and teaches at the University of Victoria in the School of Social Work Indigenous Specialization. Her research interests include Indigenous child and family practice, Indigenous ways of knowing, mental health and decolonization for Indigenous people. Jeannine has an extensive background in child welfare services and has published extensively in Aboriginal child and family services.
Susan Strega is Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria. Susan’s areas of teaching specialization and interest include: anti-oppressive/anti-racist practice, research methodologies, discourse analysis, feminist methods, post-structural approaches and violence against women.
Her research interests include the research process itself, for example how it is, and ought to be conducted, and the ethics of research with marginal communities. Her MSW thesis focused on social work ethics and regulatory processes, and she hopes to soon begin a project about ethical practice in child protection. Her PhD work and much of my other research has focused on child welfare and violence against women.
Susan has published several journal articles and book chapters in the areas of social policy, child welfare and sex work. Her articles have appeared in British Journal of Social Work, Violence against Women and Child and Family Social Work. She is co-editor, with Leslie Brown, of Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous and Anti-oppressive Approaches.
Susan is a member of the Educational Policy Committee, Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work and is Chair, Research Subcommittee, CNCEW (Canadian National Coalition of Experiential Women).
This book offers students and experienced practitioners alike the opportunity to explore a range of visions, strategies and concrete skills for anti-racist and anti-oppressive child welfare practice. Significant topics and emerging practice approaches are addressed by contributors who share a passionate commitment to the transformation of child welfare through socially just practices. The book challenges the current Anglo-American child welfare paradigm by centring Indigenous perspectives and voices.
“This collection must be read by all of those wanting to reclaim child welfare practice from its present attention to paper work and management systems to an enterprise focused on social justice for children and families. Emerging and experienced scholars alike grapple with how social workers can change their thinking and acting through adopting anti-oppressive approaches to practice.” — Marilyn Callahan, retired professor of social work, University of Victoria
“Jeannine Carrière, a much respected Aboriginal academic, along with her colleague Susan Strega, have gathered the wisdom of many to create this ground breaking collection on Aboriginal child welfare. I highly recommended it for researchers, policy makers, child welfare workers and community members who are working to ensure that this generation of Aboriginal children has the same opportunity as other Canadian children to live safely at home.“ —Cindy Blackstock, executive director of Caring for First Nations Children Society and member of the Board of Directors for the Child Welfare League of Canada
Contents
* Introduction (Jeannine Carrière and Susan Strega)
* Chapter 1: Children in the Centre: Indigenous Perspectives on Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice (Qwul’sih’yah’maht [Robina Thomas] and Kundouqk [Jacquie Green])
* Chapter 2: “Meeting Here and Now”: Reflections on Racial and Cultural Difference in Social Work Encounters (Donna Jeffery)
* Chapter 3: Race Matters: Social Justice not Assimilation or Cultural Competence (Sarah Maiter)
* Chapter 4: Widening the Circle: Countering Institutional Racism in Child Welfare (Joan Pennell)
* Chapter 5: The Practice of Child Welfare in Indigenous Communities: A Perspective for the Non-Indigenous Social Worker (Christopher Walmsley)
* Chapter 6: Métis Experiences of Social Work Practice (Cathy Richardson)
* Chapter 7: What Parents Say: Service Users’ Theory and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice (Gary Dumbrill and Winnie Lo)
* Chapter 8: Anti-Oppressive Approaches to Assessment, Risk Assessment and Record-Keeping (Susan Strega)
* Chapter 9: Supporting Youth in Care through Anti-Oppressive Practice (April Feduniw)
* Chapter 10: Reconstructing Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment from an Anti-Oppressive Perspective (Henry Parada)
* Chapter 11: Oppressing Mothers: Protection Practices in Situations of Child Sexual Abuse (Julia Krane and Rosemary Carlton)
* Chapter 12: Taking Resistance Seriously: A Response-Based Approach to Social Work in Cases of Violence against Indigenous Women (Cathy Richardson and Allan Wade)
* Chapter 13: Healing Versus Treatment: Substance Misuse, Child Welfare and Indigenous Families (Betty Bastien, Jeannine Carrière and Susan Strega)
* Chapter 14: Engaging With Fathers in Child Welfare (Leslie Brown, Susan Strega, Lena Dominelli, Christopher Walmsley and Marilyn Callahan)
* Chapter 15: Considerations for Cultural Planning and Indigenous Adoptions (Jeannine Carrière and Raven Sinclair)
* Chapter 16: Practicing From the Heart (Carolyn Peacock)
About the Authors
Jeannine Carriére is Métis, originally from the Red River area of southern Manitoba and teaches at the University of Victoria in the School of Social Work Indigenous Specialization. Her research interests include Indigenous child and family practice, Indigenous ways of knowing, mental health and decolonization for Indigenous people. Jeannine has an extensive background in child welfare services and has published extensively in Aboriginal child and family services.
Susan Strega is Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria. Susan’s areas of teaching specialization and interest include: anti-oppressive/anti-racist practice, research methodologies, discourse analysis, feminist methods, post-structural approaches and violence against women.
Her research interests include the research process itself, for example how it is, and ought to be conducted, and the ethics of research with marginal communities. Her MSW thesis focused on social work ethics and regulatory processes, and she hopes to soon begin a project about ethical practice in child protection. Her PhD work and much of my other research has focused on child welfare and violence against women.
Susan has published several journal articles and book chapters in the areas of social policy, child welfare and sex work. Her articles have appeared in British Journal of Social Work, Violence against Women and Child and Family Social Work. She is co-editor, with Leslie Brown, of Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous and Anti-oppressive Approaches.
Susan is a member of the Educational Policy Committee, Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work and is Chair, Research Subcommittee, CNCEW (Canadian National Coalition of Experiential Women).
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