About Te Toka Tūmoana practice model

Development from framework to model

Te Toka Tūmoana was initially constructed as an Indigenous and Bicultural Principled Practice Framework. The gathering of the 8 takepū took over two and a half years of consultation inside the then Child, Youth and Family Services (frontline staff and leadership) and with key external key stakeholders. It involved a process of caucusing at the border specifically with Tangata Whenua (Māori) and Tauiwi (diverse non-Māori cultural realities).

Te Toka Tūmoana as a principled model of practice gives us a more in-depth and practical guide to the use of takepū in guiding our practice with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau.

Te Toka Tūmoana is our model of practice for working with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori

Our practice approach is delivered through our practice framework. We use all the domains of the practice framework to navigate and support our social work practice with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others. The domains are drawn on constantly throughout our mahi.

Te Toka Tūmoana sits within the domain of whai oranga and is the model of practice we use when we are working with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori to achieve change. 

We use our practice models alongside the other knowledge, tools and resources located in the practice framework. To illustrate, we use Te Puna Oranga to build and deepen our understanding of harm, risk of harm, offending behaviour, tiaki and need, and we use Te Toka Tūmoana at the same time to understand and create change with whānau. Similarly, we apply Te Toka Tūmoana alongside safety planning tools to understand the ways in which harm and risk of harm are being addressed. 

Te Toka Tūmoana is designed to demonstrate the 8 guiding principles (takepū) in action showing how the takepū can be drawn on to give effect to the knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes required for different practice situations. Te Toka Tūmoana has oranga at its centre, ensuring that understanding harm, protection and restoration of oranga and oranga aspirations for tamariki, rangatahi and whānau are a constant focus. The model guides us as we relate, understand, plan, act and reflect with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others. We do this through the application of the takepū within Te Toka Tūmoana.

When we use Te Toka Tūmoana

We use Te Toka Tūmoana practice model to support any work we do with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori across all areas of practice, including youth justice, care and protection, adoptions and caregiver recruitment and support.

Example – how to use it

As we prepare to meet with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau, we need to think about the reason we are involved and how we are going to work in a relational, inclusive and restorative way.

Te Toka Tūmoana invites the 2 takepū of kaitiakitanga and tikanga as the threads that weave throughout our work with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau. The roles that we and whānau hold within these takepū will ebb and flow. There will be times when we, as Oranga Tamariki kaimahi, may need to take the lead, and there will be times when whānau will take the lead. We navigate this with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others throughout our mahi with them. The other 6 takepū of Te Toka Tūmoana are also present and will support us with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others to address the harm, risk of harm and underlying causes of offending behaviour, and work together in the pursuit of reaching their oranga outcomes. 

When we begin with kaitiakitanga (someone responsible for caring for, protecting, safeguarding and supporting others), we need to be clear about our purpose or our intent when we are going to work with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others. Being clear about our role and function in a transparent way with whānau is central to effectively working with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others. Kaitiakitanga also supports us to have difficult conversations about harm, risk of harm and need and make decisions and plans to ensure tiaki (safety) and oranga for tamariki and rangatahi. It also gives us time to process how we are going to respect the rights of tamariki, rangatahi and whānau and address our own implicit biases. 

When we begin with the takepū of tikanga (right ways, correct protocol), we build processes with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others that create clarity, transparency and accountability to each other as we work together. This takepū also enables us to create the space to begin correctly, check the clarity of roles, clear the air and create an understanding about how we will work together. This process is like the phases of whakatau, whakawātea and whakatika that we see in the tangata whenua and bicultural supervision model. 

Application of the takepū within the relational practice process

Mā te rongo ka mōhio; mā te mōhio ka marama; mā te marama ka mātau; mā te mātau ka ora. By listening you learn; by learning you understand; by understanding you know; by knowing you advance wellbeing.

Every time we meet with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others, we use the takepū of Te Toka Tūmoana to support relational practice. Kaitiakitanga and tikanga support us to move into the space in a consistent way with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau where we relate, understand, plan, act and reflect with them. However, there is huge diversity in the nature and complexity of our cases. It is in this space that the use of all the takepū of Te Toka Tūmoana will help kaimahi in the robust work of mobilising change that is restorative. These aspects are non-linear – we move in and out of these parts of the process as the kōrero continues (cyclic). 

The following illustrations are a starting point for considering how we use the model to support our work with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau. Don’t limit yourself – use the model to build and deepen your application of the takepū in your practice.

Brief illustrations of the model in action 

As we work through the relational practice process with tamariki, whānau and others, we will activate the takepū that are required depending on the kōrero. When we use the model, we can see within each takepū the knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes that we will use to support our kōrero to address the harm or risk of harm and understand tiaki. The illustrations of each takepū are in no hierarchal order.

How Te Toka Tūmoana mobilises change

The key to the mahi that we are doing with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau is understanding and working together to mobilise change, growth and development (restorative practice and oranga goals) so that the situation for tamariki, rangatahi and whānau is better in the pursuit of oranga. The relational practice process supports us to articulate how we have worked with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau to bring about the change required.

Relating and understanding support the identification of the issues and the goals that all parties are seeking to achieve. In our context at Oranga Tamariki, this is about harm, risk of harm and offending behaviour being identified alongside tiaki (safety, care, protection) and need – through a lens of oranga. When we build and deepen our understanding (through information gathering from various sources) and apply our social work reasoning (including tupuna/ancestral knowledge), we work with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau to understand how harm, risk of harm and any underlying causes of offending behaviour can be addressed.

Planning and acting support the work that needs to be done to achieve the goals that have been defined as well as outline what it will look like when it has been achieved. This can also be likened in our context to risk statements and safety goals, where we outline the concerns and what it looks like when we no longer need to be involved. The safety planning is what gets us from risk statements to safety goals.

Reflecting with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others (including victims of offending) allows us to understand whether what we did worked. It supports the articulation of how and why we reached the outcomes that we did. It also gives space to understand any assumptions and/or bias we may have and what this means for our practice that can be explored during supervision.

All the domains of the practice framework are being applied when we are working with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others to address harm, risk of harm and offending behaviour and create change. Importantly, in this space, whai mātauranga is the theoretical driver, through the mana-enhancing paradigm, that mobilises and guides understanding with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau. The practice model of Te Toka Tūmoana demonstrates how that can be achieved.

Themes

When we think about how the model shows the application of the 8 takepū of Te Toka Tūmoana, we see a theme of service to others, of role modelling and of relational, inclusive and restorative ways of working. When we work in this way with tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and others, we are working with them to address the harm, risk of harm and/or offending behaviour, and demonstrating the connection between the takepū and their application to mobilise change.

He tāwhiti ke tō tātou haerenga ki te kore e haere tonu. He tino nui rawa a tātou mahi, kua kore e mahi nui tonu. We have come too far not to continue. We have done too much work not to do more. Tā James Henare, 1989