Learner voices leading change
From speaking with Latif Robinson about her journey into the automotive industry, it is clear she is passionate, determined and loves to help people through her role and beyond. She is currently working at Max Pennington Motors Limited in Hawera as an apprentice automotive technician and is completing MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Light Automotive Engineering (Level 4). She has also recently joined Te Pūkenga’s Learner Leadership Group.
The Group, consisting of work-based and campus-based learners, provides an opportunity for learners to voice their opinions and bring about change for current and future learners.
Latif joined this group in July. One of the main reasons she joined was to give a voice to learners who are work-based. “The biggest thing I’ve done is give insight to the people at Te Pūkenga into what it is like to be a learner that is work-based. As we work full-time while we complete our qualification, we operate quite differently than the campus-based learners, and have different support requirements.”
The Learner Leadership Group meets once a month and consists of about 15 other learners, with Latif being the only work-based learner. Although the Group only began in July, they have already helped implement significant changes - one specifically being free counselling services for work-based learners as well as campus-based learners. “This was implemented through our Group and shows all the mahi we did with Te Pūkenga. This was a big win for us work-based learners. It is a big achievement.”
The Group doesn’t plan on stopping. “We just want to continue to help in a positive way. A lot of the things that Te Pūkenga want to do and what we have talked about in the Group is big mahi and won’t change overnight. But with hard work and perseverance I think we will get there. It’s really exciting!”
As Latif is the only work-based learner in the Group she is encouraging others to join, “It would be good to see other work-based learners join us. We all have different perspectives, and work in different industries with different needs, so having more diversity and more voices can only be a good thing.”
If you’d like to get involved in any future learner voice groups, please keep an eye out on our website and news section for future updates.
