Abstract
This thesis explores a cultural practice, specifically a Tangata Whenua (people of the land) model for supervision through the experiences of research participants using a phenomenological approach. The model for supervision is called, ‘Hoki ki tōu maunga kia purea ai koe ki ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea’ (Return to your mountain to be cleansed by the winds of Tāwhirimātea). Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand) epistemology and tangata whenua frames of reference are woven throughout this qualitative study as bracketed by the researcher’s Māori centric orientation to Phenomenology and Kaupapa Māori Theory, the research methodologies.
The fusion of ever changing horizons are highlighted as the hermeneutics of traditional cultural practices performed on ancestral locations interact in positive ways for Māori social workers today. Karakia (incantation), mihi (identification through kinship relationship to people and land), waiata, (song), whakataukī (proverbial sayings), pūkōrero (narratives) and te reo me ōna tikanga (Māori language and processes) are a few of these practices which reconnect the participants to their own iwi (tribal) and hapū (sub-tribal) ways of knowing, seeing and being. Thus 'grounded' they are better able to integrate tangata whenua epistemologies within the workplace and in their practice. In effect the benefits extend to the whānau they work with and can be transferred in kind to advance hapū and iwi wellbeing.
The phenomenological inquiry acknowledges the research participants claim to select, recollect and reflect on expressions within their own traditional knowing beyond those modelled by the researcher. The study found the efficacy of Hoki ki tōu maunga is as a cohesive and holistic model of supervision of wellbeing for kaimahi Māori implementing Māori models of practice and working with whānau Māori. The findings of the study highlight the need for tangata whenua epistemologies and methodologies to be integrated into social work and supervision practice policies for Māori social workers as a cultural standard.