Alex George presenting at the ANZSSA conference in Sydney in October
Monique Bell, Student Support and Scholarships Manager, and Alex George, a current social work ākonga, presented at the Australia and New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA) 2023 international conference in Sydney in October. They showcased Unitec’s ‘By Ākonga for Ākonga’ project, funded as part of Te Pūkenga’s Network Quick Wins for equity based co-design initiatives. Alex was one of a team of 12 priority group ākonga on the project this year. Monique Bell secured funding for the project and worked with Leanne Kapoor, Team Leader, Scholarships and Mentoring to support the ākonga throughout the year.
What does ‘By Ākonga for Ākonga’ mean?
Translated it simply means ‘By students for students. In practice it meant keeping an authentic co-design process with the ākonga on the project by utilising kaupapa Māori methodology, starting with whakawhanaungatanga and hui to bring ākonga together to discuss, listen, share and explore how they as individuals and as a collective could develop resources for new Māori, Pacific, Disabled and Neurodiverse students. A key focus of the funding was how whakawhanaungatanga and the tuakana-teina model could help new priority group ākonga feel better connected when starting their learner journey. For the ākonga project group at Unitec this is all started with the question ‘what do I know now that I wish I’d known when I first started studying here?’
The ākonga collated a whole lot of information with a focus on our Māori, Pacific and Disability support services and their own Schools – from their own experiences and from online resources. They put them all together in a new student planner, and bundled that into a Welcome Pack with other resources for new ākonga. The ākonga are also working on creating welcome videos for Waitākere students and hosting some movie nights as a stress-reliever during study week.
As part of the ANZSSA presentation Alex spoke about the Tuakana-Teina relationship and how she felt the need for it was highlighted when she was handing out the Welcome Packs.
“Personally, I was surprised at the openness of students in sharing their personal stories, their struggles and doubts about their capability. It was a little overwhelming at first, but it seemed like an opportune time to apply my social work skills – I could see there was need for a human connection, someone who cared and understood where they were coming from.”
The presentation was well-attended, and a lot of questions were asked about the process of setting up ‘students as partners’ type initiatives. The ANZSSA conference hosted Tertiary Education Providers and Student Leaders from both sides of the Tasman, was an opportunity to showcase and learn from others in the sector, on what is working and what new initiatives are being trialled to help support ākonga.
The ‘By ākonga, for ākonga’ group of 12 priority group ākonga
