The concept of home-school partnerships is widely accepted as being important for student success. How this concept can be quantified in a more equitable and valid way, specifically through the lens of the Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), is the focus of this inquiry. RTLB and parent surveys, plus a questionnaire answered by the…

The concept of home-school partnerships is widely accepted as being important for student success. How this concept can be quantified in a more equitable and valid way, specifically through the lens of the Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), is the focus of this inquiry. RTLB and parent surveys, plus an interview with a Ministry of…

In this piece, I recount some events in which I was called upon to speak in te reo Ma ori on behalf of others in a variety of formal situations. I call this being 'on the paepae' but the paepae should be understood more properly as the paepae tapu. I will leave the further explanation of this for others who should rightly speak about such things.…

Communities of Practice (COP) have been used in schools and other educational institutions as a way of growing knowledge and managing change. This article centres on one professional inquiry with a group of Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) and using a strengths-based approach, explores the elements that increased the effectiveness…

In early childhood education [ECE] settings, teachers need to be conscious of the diverse learning needs of individual children in their care. Meeting individual needs has roots in the rights discourse which aims to promote human rights, social justice and inclusion, removing barriers that may hinder learning for children with diverse needs…

Teachers often worry about how to optimise learning for students of Pacific heritage. To address the concern, this study sought views of junior secondary school students of Pacific heritage about what enhanced their learning. An innovative approach was trialled in focus group interviews which involved four Samoan teenagers as research assistants…

This article discusses social and emotional competence and its importance in young children's development. Foundations for children's social and emotional competence are developed during the early years and are linked with school success and later-in-life well-being. We discuss three factors affecting children's social and emotional interactions…

Students from low socio-economic backgrounds in New Zealand face many disadvantages when it comes to education, and, despite government initiatives, the disparity between the poor and the well-off continues to grow in this country. New Zealand is among several countries where income inequalities are large and the impact of socio-economic…

Pasifika learners, along with Maori, continue to experience high disparities in New Zealand's education system. Furthermore, it is predicted that over the next few decades, the majority of students in New Zealand primary schools will be Maori and Pasifika. The implications for classroom teachers are enormous. In reviewing a range of literature,…

This paper examines why Maori language needs to be taught accurately at the early stages of initial teacher education programmes and continue for the duration of a teacher education student's degree. If teacher education faculties are permitting their students to mispronounce Maori names or words, they are in fact doing a disservice, not only to…

This paper examines Early Intervention (EI) service provision from within one Ministry of Education region in New Zealand. It does this in order to better understand what works well and what needs to change if children from Maori families, of Early Childhood age, are to be provided with the most effective EI services. By engaging with Maori…

New Zealand is a bicultural nation, founded on the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi by the native Maori and the British Crown. It is also home to people from many countries, cultures and ethnicities. Therefore, culturally-relevant response to crisis events has become a significant aspect of the Ministry of Education's interdisciplinary Traumatic…