AKO – The journal for education professionals

Feature 1 Nov 2024

Enhancing the mana: cultural leadership in Taranaki

Last year, NZEI Te Riu Roa won an allowance for existing teachers who hold cultural knowledge and expertise to recognise the work they are already doing in kura, schools and kindergartens. It came into effect this year and the applications for the funding were overwhelming. Ngāmotu-based writer Emma Hislop (Kāi Tahu) sat down with a few of the kaiako who received the Cultural Leadership Allowance in Taranaki, to find out about their roles – and what receiving the funding meant to them.

Feature 17 Sep 2024

Arohamai, mō taku hē, kei te ako tonu a u i te reo Māori

My journey and personal relationship with my identity is an ever-evolving part of my life. My identity bears the impacts of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty from before I was even born.

poroporoake

A poem for Te Wiki o te reo Māori.

Inclusive education: being a teacher with ADHD

In schools and centres across Aotearoa, a growing number of kaiako and support staff are sharing with colleagues that they have a neurodivergent diagnosis. In doing so, they’re helping to break down prejudices and promote inclusion. AKO spoke with three members of NZEI Te Riu Roa about their experiences as educators with ADHD.

Let’s celebrate the learning support staff of Aotearoa

One in five children and young people need extra support for their learning. Whether it's teacher aides, classroom and ECE centre teachers, specialist roles including RTLBs, SENCOs/LSCs or school leaders, almost all professionals in education connect on a daily basis with unmet need in learning support. Here, we profile a range of NZEI Te Riu Roa members working as learning support specialists, as part of the inaugural Learning Support Awareness Day, intended to raise awareness of the gaps between learning support need and provision.

Bacon, eggs and te reo-speaking astronauts: the life and career of Laures Park

After a decades-long career in education that has been focussed on transforming the system in order to uplift Māori students and educators, NZEI Te Riu Roa Matua Takawaenga Laures Park (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whānau a Apanui) has been awarded a prestigious international prize. Here, we look back at her life and singular career.

Advice to your past self: reflections from Mt Cook School

AKO visited Mt Cook School in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington to talk to five NZEI Te Riu Roa members. We heard their reflections on their careers in education and the changes they’ve witnessed over time, and then asked them one powerful question: what advice would you give your past self starting out in the profession, knowing what you know now?

A cautionary tale from England: how a future of charter schools could look for Aotearoa

James Kerr, a London-based teacher and national executive member of England’s National Education Union, visited Aotearoa in early August to meet with NZEI Te Riu Roa members – and present to Parliament – about the impact of the UK’s academy schools, a model of schooling similar to our Government’s proposed charter schools. He talks here about how what was promised did not transpire.

Diary of a head teacher sabbatical

Last year, NZEI Te Riu Roa kindergarten members won a new addition in their collective agreement: ten-week-long paid sabbaticals for up to 20 head teachers each year. We are honoured to share excerpts from a generous and insightful diary written during one of the first sabbaticals earlier this year, thanks to Shelley Shennan, the head teacher of Parihaka Kindergarten in Whangārei.

Inclusive education – let’s talk about OCD

When obsessive compulsive disorder is misunderstood, students and staff living with OCD are alienated from classrooms — how do educators create more inclusive learning environments for all? A psychologist, a teacher living with OCD, a student and his mum share their perspectives.