The Know Your Roots model and program has been identified as a tool that elicits belonging and participation, a stronger sense of worth, resilience in the acceptance-rejection parameters of legitimacy, an abiding sense of social justice and equity in the Social Cohesion through Education Program. It is an element of the Social Cohesion through Education Pilot Project.
The Know Your Roots program was developed to help individuals of ages reconnect with their Polynesian heritage, to assist in their transition to living and embracing of life in their new country and home Australia. The Know Your Roots program has been active in the lives of over 150 youth in the two years it has been running in the Goulburn Valley. The program is currently running in four local schools in Greater Shepparton, and results of the program are shared on a greater scale at the Pasifika Festival each year. Through the rich cultures shared, all are able to gather greater understanding of each other, enabling stronger unified community.
