Lessons from a Va Relational Approach: Embedding Indigenous Constructs for Classroom Practice

There is increasing concern raised for youth not in education and employment or training (NEET). Subsequently there is an increased demand for both education and health services that support the development of positive youths’ identities, socioemotional and cognitive developmental needs, through youth mentoring strategies (Rhodes & DuBois, Current Directions in Psychological Science 17(4):254–258, 2008). Youth mentoring programmes are largely underpinned by Eurocentric approaches lacking consideration of diverse cultural needs of multi-ethnic under-served youth (Larson & Ngo, Journal of Adolescent Research 32:3–10, 2017). This article draws on data from a participant observational study highlighting how youth mentoring practice underpinned by a range of key Indigenous psychological constructs can be nurtured to improve classroom practice for kaiako (teacher, instructor). The context of investigation is focused on a youth mentoring programme in a tertiary learning environment at a large urban city of Aotearoa New Zealand that explored culturally responsive, sustaining and safe youth mentoring practice for Māori and Pacific/Pasifika rangatahi excluded from mainstream compulsory education.