112 ● Anaru Eketone and Shayne Walker
the needs of others over those of yourself—rather than an attempt to distill
Māori culture down to a few essentialized elements. There are a number of
international writers who advocate a position of “not knowers” or “humble
experts” (Smith, Bakir, and Montilla 2006, 8; Santiago-Rivera, Arrendondo,
and Gallardo-Cooper 2001, 172), wherein the worker approaches the client
family with genuine respect, recognizing that the family are the experts on
their own lives and that the worker has significant limitations in knowing
their culture. This is a “power-with” people rather than “power-over” people
approach (Bishop 2002, 43). If workers believe in the empowerment of oth-
ers, they will develop the knowledge, values, and skills to make this happen.
This approach ties in with the anti-oppressive and empowerment frameworks
discussed in chapter 2.
Māori expect more from social workers in contemporary times than they
did a decade ago, and expectations will continue to grow. Many whānau
now have members who are themselves highly educated and politically aware,
and they are unwilling to accept the positive intentions and humility of the
culturally incompetent. In the past, many social workers were competent in
explaining western models; they now need to have a personal commitment
to epistemological equality, whereby Māori models are valued. Applicants for
human service positions in Aotearoa/New Zealand are usually asked about
the Treaty of Waitangi. The ideal reply would reflect that the applicant has
an understanding of, a commitment to, and the ability to apply the Treaty of
Waitangi in practice. This brief framework can be applied to cross-cultural
practice, where an “understanding of ” relates to Māori knowledge and theory
development (literacy), a “commitment to” relates to comparisons with one’s
own values and making self-reflective choices, and an “ability to apply” follows
on from the first two proficiencies, so that skills and knowledge are gained
and practiced regularly (fluency).
Although this applies at a personal level, it should be noted that an
organizational commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi does not necessar-
ily lead to workers exhibiting a well-integrated set of practice skills. The
cultural stance of the organizations that mandate human service work
are often found in their mission statements or key operating policy and
procedures documentation, but these documents can remain mere token
expressions of intent unless they are translated into competencies. As pre-
viously mentioned, Fleras and Spoonley’s (1999) bicultural continuum
positions organizations regarding their commitment to bicultural goals, an
approach that aligns well with the Bennett scale’s (1993) ethnorelative and
ethnocentric stages. The organizational context is important and can influ-
ence a person’s bicultural and cross-cultural practice, but the worker’s own
personal commitment requires them to do more than the bare minimum
required by the organization.