In: H. K. Ling, J. Martin & R. Ow (Eds.), Cross-cultural social work: Local and global. (pp. 67-85).

This book is held in Tāmaki Library - 361.32 L75

As a profession, social work in New Zealand has shown leadership among the 'people professions' by requiring its practitioners to be competent in working across cultures: in particular with Māori, the nation's indigenous people. The high number of Māori who come to the notice of authorities has meant that aspiring social workers are required to have a base knowledge of Māori cultural constructs (tikanga), have undertaken an introductory course into the Māori language (reo), and be aware of how to uphold and apply the Treaty of Waitangi. This chapter looks at how and why social work students are trained to work biculturally in the first instance and from there develop a multicultural approach. The focus is on a local southern New Zealand approach developed at the University of Otago and includes a critical analysis of the wider New Zealand context and the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board's requirement to demonstrate cross-cultural competency. The authors argue that biculturalism, based on the relationship established by the Treaty of Waitangi, is still the favoured approach to social work in Aotearoa New Zealand; however within biculturalism is the capacity to include multiculturalism in regards to social work education, theory and practice. A further objective of this chapter, is to examine dilemmas present in teaching in a bicultural context as shown by research, and to suggest strategies from the authors' own teaching experiences. These may have relevance for other contexts in which social work educators and practitioners are confronted with practice with minority cultural groups. (From page 67). Contact NZFVC for a copy of this article or request through your local library. Record #5174