Rangatahi Focus
TE RITO: our children, our essence
Hutia te rito o te harakeke,
Kei hea te kōmako e kō?
Kī mai ki ahau;
He aha te mea nui o te Ao?
Māku e kī atu,
he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.
What is the greatest thing in the world? It is People, it is people, it is people.
The pinnacle of this greatness is our children and young people! In this well-known proverb, the rito is the core of the flax bush. If we nurture this the cultivar grows abundantly.
Te Rito is our Rangatahi development syllabus within TAO that plays out as a blended model. It is specially designed to support rangatahi to uncover the power and the gifts that they already have. Te Rito is run as a 12-week course that integrates digital platform learning blended with coaching mentors, weekend seminars, and project design and implementation assignments.
Kaupapa
It is clear throughout the ages that young people with strong core principles provide major contributions, have the greatest sense of self, form the most stable and healthy relationships, and in the future build the strongest communities. These rangatahi are also happiest and often feel content and positive in life. People with a clear knowledge of themselves are more resilient, having the capacity to return to a set of core standards during hard times.
The world needs rangatahi who know what is right, and more practically how to do it, even when others aren’t. Moreover, we need to prepare our rangatahi with the types of wānanga, environments, and learning that enhance these strengths so they can create strong whānau, communities, and futures.
It is important to note, that adults are included in this whole learning phase where modeling or tuakana/teina relationships have integrity and are clear. From this point, we are certain that rangatahi will develop strong and effective life skills themselves. As tuakana we show rangatahi that we are continually prepared to work to improve ourselves and that it’s okay to make mistakes.
The kind of life skills that are developed with Te Rito is an inherent knowledge of their holistic capacity that provides resilience-building opportunities. Social adaptability is also developed when qualities such as connectedness, gratitude, forgiveness, responsibility and so on are real, lived experiences even during challenging moments.
Other qualities like wholeness, tapu, deep listening, freedom, and joy combined with several more distinctive features make up Te Rito. These qualities are related and carefully interwoven together to prepare young people to tolerate and cope with real-life challenges.
The blended style of delivery allows rangatahi, parents, guardians, teachers, and other supports to access the learning, allowing everyone to work together to nurture rangatahi that are equipped to lead us into the future.
This education is not something we give over to our rangatahi. Rather they are strengths that already exist within them that need to be stimulated and awoken.
Our vision for Te Rito is:
Whāia te Tino Rangatiratanga
Kia tika, kia pono, kia aroha!
Be the Boss you are
Come correct
and have it all!
If this is something you would like to explore for your rangatahi or to have your rangatahi engage with, please contact us and we can make it happen.
At Mad Ave, we are committed to empowering and inspiring rangatahi and their whānau, with transformative resilience-building learning. Ultimately, rangatahi are positive, powerful contributors to their whānau and communities.
