The Story of Praxis

Our Whakapapa

‘Praxis’ - the word, means learning from what we do. It’s an educational movement made popular by the Brazilian Educator Paulo Freire. Much of our teaching approaches are based on the Circle of Mana, a model of youth development which suggests that the foundations for learning rest on: knowing who we are and where we belong, becoming competent, taking responsibility for ourselves and acting generously towards others.

For close to 30 years Praxis has been training Youth Workers across Aotearoa. Praxis is a network of Educators and Youth Development Practitioners. We are passionate about educating and mentoring the next generation of leadership in Aotearoa, who will make a positive difference in the lives of young people. Praxis is a Private Training Establishment (PTE), we are a registered Charity and NZQA accredited. We currently teach two programs; a Level 4 Certificate in Youth Work and a Level 6 Diploma in Youth Work. Each year we get around 80 students from across the motu who choose to study Youth Work with us. Each student has an Agency (placement) where they practice their Youth Work skills in their local communities. We have around 100 key organisations that we partner with each year.

Alongside training youth workers, for over 40 years we have also provided alternative education for rangatahi (13-16 year olds) in Porirua, who have been marginalised from mainstream education. Our alternative education school is called PEK, which stands for Praxis Education Kenepuru. Kenepuru is a name based on the whenua, it translates literally as the silt that is carried by water, and this feature forms much of the Porirua Harbour today. The stream, the harbour (Pari-Rua) and Raukawa Moana (Cook Strait) were all important food sources for the various iwi who have lived in the area. The term Kenepuru speaks of both sustenance and movement from the small stream to the wider sea. The school is situated on a bank overlooking the stream. Ngāti Toa regarded the area as a place of healing and nourishment. The name Kenepuru was gifted to Praxis by Dr Te Taku Parai, a kaumātua of Ngāti Toa, who shared these pūrākau with the team on April 8th 2022. Kenepuru refers to the site, Praxis Education refers to the activities that we carry out in this place.

We are a Christian faith-based organization. Dr Lloyd Martin founded our organisation, which grew out of Youth For Christ - in its time, one of the most significant Christian youth movements Aotearoa has seen. We invite students who are studying with us to explore their own faith journey, and we try to demonstrate what Journeying with Jesus looks like for us as a team. We do this in an invitational way, meeting students wherever they may be at own their own personal journey. Students studying with us have a wide range of faith backgrounds, as well as positive and/or negative experiences with religion and religious groups, all are welcome.

We are a non-Māori organisation that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and encourages our students to deepen their understanding of Te Ao Māori and what it means to be a good treaty partner. Praxis is affirming of the rainbow community, and we do what we can to create space for all marginalised communities. We give our students the opportunity to explore what it means to be inclusive practitioners. As an organisation, we are working on lessening our impact on the environment, so we offer our students an opportunity to explore what caring for creation and youth development can look like together. Praxis aims to offer our students transformative learning experiences that challenge them to be not only great Youth Workers but also great human beings and, in turn - encourage them to be part transforming communities.

Praxis also offers a number of short workshops for Educators, Youth Workers and anyone working with young people.