While it was the ancient Greeks who first recorded a written term, intergenerational knowledge transfer through relationships was widespread in other societies with puukengatanga and urungatanga in Te Ao Maori, followed by the development of early apprenticeship systems in Pakeha employment.

At the start of the 20th century the Big Brothers/Big Sisters model emerged in the USA, aligning with both the Maori practice of tuakana/teina and the core Pasifika value of tautua - service.