"We call it our tikanga (custom/tradition)," said Te Ngaehe Wanikau, chief executive and one of three directors at Te Whare Aronui, including paramount chief Sir Tumu te Heuheu.
Mr Wanikau said he owed a great deal to his late father - also Te Ngaehe Wanikau - who could recite 28 generations of whakapapa.
"Growing up, we had dirt floors in our homes but I never saw squalor - just immense dignity and pride.
"Many of our young people have been lost from our culture and it is our task to lift them up and bring them back."
In line with that philosophy, the student intakes at Te Whare Aronui o Tuwharetoa spend the first week learning about "expectations of engagement".
Mr Wanikau said 99 per cent of students had failed in previous education - a large number of them have come from decile one schools.
A partnership was forged with Waiariki Institute of Technology eight years ago and there is sufficient flexibility within the NZQA criteria to adapt programmes to make sure students qualify with skills that will take them into the workplace.
"The primary objective is employment and that means looking for demand and supplying what is needed."
He said while the end qualification was important, the higher qualification was the strength of character that students developed.
"The other is just a piece of paper.
"We want our students to be the rangatira (leader) - someone their families and children can rely on."
Farming students are given opportunities to hone their skills on local farms and some have gained permanent work as a result. Twenty-two students are part way through 12-month certificates, and six already have jobs. Students on a previous carpentry course who were asked what they wanted to learn said they were more interested in fixing their homes than building shoeboxes.
The students spent three months building a whare (house of ancestors) on the shores of Lake Rotoaira - the home of the haka - for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Mr Wanikau said they put their skills to good use after that on their own homes.
The Certificate in Environmental Management involves 21 students and has been developed in consultation with the Department of Conservation. Two of the students are working with the Tongariro National Trout Centre.
Four students have recently completed a two-year security qualification and are setting up their own local company.
Ngati Turangitukua Charitable Trust chairperson Ngaiterangi Smallman tutors students in te reo, local history and culture and tikanga.
This year, the centre has partnered with Te Puia Maori Arts and Crafts Institute to offer a five-year master carving course for three Tuwharetoa carvers at the Turangi centre.
