The Story of Praxis

Our Whakapapa

‘Praxis’ - the word, means learning from what we do. It’s an educational movement made popular by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. It’s learning in action! 

Our big idea is to help make our country a better place for young people to grow up in. 

We drew a deep breath and began offering the Praxis Certificate and Diploma courses in 2000, as a way of helping people engage with key ideas and frameworks, as they work alongside young people in schools, churches and their local community. We have a whole-person approach, meaning that the Praxis journey is as much about who we are becoming as what we know. 

Our initial focus was on training Christian youth workers, to work with young people in their community contexts. After a while we realized that there weren’t too many alternatives out there for training and youth work qualifications, so we broadened our scope and became known as a faith-centred organization that provides training and qualifications open to anyone who would like to do their learning with us.

For over 20 years, the Praxis Course has provided qualifications in youth work for hundreds of youth and community leaders in the Pacific Islands and Australia, as well as over 1,500 youth workers here in Aotearoa. 

Alongside teaching and talking about it, for over 40 years Praxis Education has provided innovative secondary schooling programmes in the Porirua/Wellington area for young people who have become marginalized from mainstream education. It’s where we walk the talk and put our ideas into practice.

We also offer short workshops for educators, youth workers, parents and anyone who is interested in figuring out how to work more effectively alongside young people.