All Articles
Is Everyone Okay?: Hauora for educators
High workloads and insufficient resourcing in a rapidly changing society leads to staff burnout. But these education leaders have found authentic ways to support and value staff hauora.
“Not another new bloody model of wellbeing”
At a recent conference I attended, I heard a speaker at a workshop enthused at a number of models of health and wellbeing. She ran through a myriad of some very impressive line ups mostly from America and Europe.
Global citizenship education – He raraunga o te ao: A Māori perspective
Global Citizenship education (GCED) is UNESCO’s response to the impact of poverty, global warming, inequality and human rights violations which threaten peace and sustainability worldwide.
Nurtured minds are our friends!
Sam Hayden of Northcross Intermediate writes about "Add Value", the programme he created to support student hauora.
Winter 2021: Book Reviews
Reviews of nine fantastic books for children and adults that will support your hauora.
Be open-minded about mindfulness
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally. Try this mindfulness practice!
Hauora is for everyone
It is great to be able to share this issue of Ako with you. Hauora seems to be the catch phrase of the last couple of years.
Conor Twyford talks to Ako about climate activism
Conor Twyford, the new Community Organiser at NZEI Te Riu Roa, talks about the work she’s doing and how she’s supporting members to get active on climate change. “If we’re going to tackle the big issues like climate change,” Twyford says, “we need to do it in community, we need to do it together.”
Making Transitions
As Taranaki makes a “Just Transition” from fossil fuels to a carbon-neutral economy, educators, whānau and tamariki must transition as well.
Gumboots and Gloves: Coming together in the face of climate threat
For many communities in Aotearoa the impacts of climate change are already being felt. Ako talks to educators about floods, droughts and hurricanes, and how they get through.
Planting the seed of environmental citizenship
Early childhood centres are educating and empowering tamariki on how to make their world a better place. The work is changing mindsets and behaviour far beyond centre walls.
Te Maramataka: A way to live and know
As mātauranga Māori is more widely recognised, schools and kura are using Te Maramataka to connect with the environment and themselves.
How to effect change
Once you identify that you want to take climate action, how do you get everyone on board? Ako asks educators who have succeeded how they created change.
How do we support tamariki as citizens growing up in a chaotic climate?
As a political scientist interested in children’s futures and serving on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), an international science body that produces regular reports on the state of the world’s climate, I worry a lot about our changing climate and the implications for children and future generations.
E kore au e ngaro / I shall not be lost
Where I come from, the kererū is revered. A food for royalty and women. Our kaumātua describe how the sky would get dark as clouds of kererū flew overhead, sounding like a loud helicopter as they flapped their wings through our echoing valleys. This memory from long before I was born was a sign of abundance.
Looking to the opportunity ahead
I’m not sure if it’s the increase in grassroots movements, or the current government’s desire to highlight climate change, but in the education sector there’s a real thirst to be lifting our game.
Summer 2021: Book reviews
Reviews of eleven brilliant new books for children and adults with an environmental theme.
Spilling the beans
Ally Kemplen is a teacher aide at Newton Central School in Auckland. She shares her memories of her favourite year at school, before talking with the current principal.
Why now is a good time to rethink the purpose of ECE
Professor Linda Mitchell and her colleagues surveyed 156 managers from Early Childhood Education (ECE) providers on the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Early childhood teachers are shovel ready
Last Friday, ECE kaiako and their supporters across the country showed that ECE is primed for investment, by sending their ‘shovel-ready’ photos to key decision-makers in a day of action.
Member memories: The school in my backyard
Erin Dalton Steel recalls her childhood at Oranga Primary School, before talking with current principal Bridget Lummis.
The journey to pay equity for teacher aides
Ako speaks with Annie Te Moana and Ally Kemplen, members of the teacher aide pay equity negotiation team about the journey to mana taurite