Kia Ora, welcome to the New Zealand Certificate in Youth Work!
Positive role models can make a huge difference to our New Zealand youth, helping them navigate life and discover positive solutions to the myriad of issues they face daily. Your organisation is already committed to this, your staff have chosen to be a part of your organisation in the hope that they can be one of those positive role models.
Ulearn wants to support the youth industry of NZ by helping them be the best role model they can be – by giving your team the mana and confidence they deserve through helping them gain a qualification that recognises the importance of the youth work industry. With an increasing demand for Youth workers in Aotearoa, this programme will equip your staff with the broad operational and theoretical knowledge to work with youth.
We want to raise the profile of youth workers and support the youth industry of Aotearoa by helping your team to gain a qualification that helps them to:
- Mentor and support young people to recognise and develop their potential.
- Create and maintain a safe environment when working with young people/rangatahi.
- Apply a strengths-based approach to lead positive youth development projects in the community.
- Reflect on own practice, and implement self-care strategies when working with young people.
- Apply an understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to uphold and honour the history of Māori as tangata whenua.
Youth workers specialising in working with Māori communities also need to have knowledge of te reo Māori and tikanga (language and culture).
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mentoring and Coaching
You will have your own personal mentor and coach throughout the course that meets with you every six weeks for a one-on-one meeting to discuss your goals and help keep you on track through the programme.
Career Opportunities
- Graduates will be qualified to work in intermediate roles in the youth work sector: for example, leading or managing programmes, projects and events delivered by peer support groups, youth service agencies and community or marae or faith-based groups.
- The qualification may lead to higher level qualifications in youth work or other social services
- Introduction to Youth Work
Provides you with key concepts and information in preparation for your learning journey. - Developing our Youth
Introduces working in a youth development environment including major human development theories, the impacts of issues such as abuse and neglect on youth and the challenges of living in a global society , Māori and Pasifika development, social work, and well-being models. Explore the differences between race, ethnicity, and culture, to include youth culture and the sub-cultures, globalization and its effects on youth and what it means to be a “Global Citizen". - Developing a Safe Space for our Youth
Looks at how to create a safe space for youth physically and emotionally. Topics include boundaries, manaakitanga, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, keeping our youth physically safe; the legal and ethical liability, the Health & Safety in Work Act, Vulnerable Children’s Act, Oranga Tamariki Act, Privacy Act, and the Code of Ethics for Youth Work in Aotearoa. - Developing Positive Connections
Focuses on community connections and resources available to both youth workers and youth clients, and building rapport and appropriate relationships. Discover ways to build rapport and appropriate relationships with their youth clients and examine the importance of positive cultural identity and why “knowing where you come from”’ is important to Māori and Pasifika youth, as well as the importance of the partnerships with iwi, hapū, whanau, and Māori community when working with Māori youth. - Developing our Approach
Focuses on positive youth development and why quality relationships can have an impact on youth development programmes. Learners will have the opportunity to plan, implement, and evaluate a strengths-based activity/event an explore strategies for working with Māori and Pacific young people and strategies to help all young people with social, emotional, physical, and other social skills. - Developing Ourselves
Focuses on taking care of the youth worker. Discover global, national, regional, and locally based professional groups created to support the youth worker, explore the benefits of a Shared Leadership approach and the importance of involving youth in the decisions regarding their programmes. This course also looks at why is self-care important for youth workers such as mindfulness, relaxation, time management, inspirational materials or self-care readings.
Assessment
To gain competency in each course/module, all assessment tasks must be completed correctly and fully. Answers must be typed into the space provided and submitted electronically via the LMS. Hand-written assessments will not be accepted unless previously arranged with your assessor or outlined in the task instructions.
The assessment must be the student’s own work. Resits are available.
Refer to the student handbook for further information on assessment and resit policies.
- Academic Policies
- Support and Guidance Directory
- Complaints Procedures
- Computer Network, Internet Policy and IT Services