I just graduated—now what? A wero to social work education’s settler colonialism and White supremacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol37iss2id1270Keywords:
settler colonialism, White supremacy, Social WorkAbstract
This article examines settler colonialism and White supremacy within social work education and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand through two social work graduates’ perspectives; Māori and Pākehā respectively. Despite the profession’s stated commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, biculturalism and Pūao-te-Āta-tū (The Māori Perspective Advisory Committee, 1988), settler–colonial structures persistently shape and constrain it. For example, Pākehā frameworks are favoured over mātauranga (Māori knowledges), tikanga (customs) are settler colonial, cherry-picked, financial barriers limit minoritised social worker efforts and supposedly colour-blind health approaches conceal institutionally racist harms. Our wero to social work educators and regulators demands they choose between modern, colonial, tokenistic acknowledgement of mātauranga and non-Pākehā frameworks, or rejecting White supremacy and embodying biculturalism. We posit decolonisation demands not curriculum tweaks but biculturally advised reimagining and restructuring of how power operates within the social work profession. The future of ethical social work practice demands unflinching collective resistance to systems that perpetuate settler colonialism, uphold White supremacist ideologies, and continue to marginalise racialised communities.
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