Social Services Kaiako Gaylene Stevens believes the new vision and mission for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa “clears away the clutter” and makes it easier for her to understand.

Gaylene teaches the Certificate in Social Work in Christchurch and says reducing the vision and mission to two one-liners had helped provide clarity for her and her class of tauira.

“I love the vision it makes it more accessible, in this instance the message is not lost in words, it is transferable across all layers and is inclusive of all people.”

The mission of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is Tauira Success and its vision is – Whānau Transformation Through Education.

Gaylene of Ngāti Porou descent says she sees whānau transformation right before her eyes as she watches the transition of her tauira on the Level 4 certificate programme.

“What I see are these wāhine taking hold of education and turning their worlds around and transforming them to move forward.”

Gaylene provided her feedback about the vision and mission after a presentation by Te Taiurungi Dr. Jim Mather about the progress TWoA is making following the conclusion of Te Raumairanga.

Dr. Mather said he was impressed with the positive changes at the Christchurch site and agreed that simplifying the mission and vision were important.
“When I read the past one I couldn’t remember past the tenth bullet point, so it's important to  simplify things like tauira success.”