In the past two years, Ōmokoroa Point School in Bay of Plenty has been the centre of two community-changing projects that have impacted the entire Ōmokoroa community. Years 5 and 6 teacher Deirdre Duggan shares her experience of supporting students to stand up for what they believe in.
Educators across the motu are building brains through music. It’s unseen and often undervalued work, but that mahi is helping tamariki thrive right across the curriculum. AKO spoke to kaiako who love using music to build communication, wellbeing and impulse control in tamariki.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Bush school, cold dips, and local conservation projects with rats traps, Half Moon Bay School on Rakiura/Stewart Island make sure all the opportunities are possible for their tamariki.
Some tamariki come to school carrying invisible backpacks. Glenview School and Papanui High share the invaluable role learning assistants and support staff play in ensuring all children can feel safe to learn.
Through digital literacy skills, collaboration and teamwork, two intermediate schools in Ōtautahi Christchurch are equipping tamariki exciting new ways to dream of the future.
To celebrate Gasav Ne Fäeag Rotuạm Ta – Rotuman Language Week, two poems from Ruby Rae Lupe Ah-Wai Macomber and Fesaitu Solomone.
It’s not unusual to have two educators in the family, but have you ever heard of six? Ako meets the Huntleys, a family from Marlborough who have dedicated their lives to teaching and their community.
All students deserve opportunities to achieve. The move to end streaming is a way of challenging socio-economic inequalities and the institutionalised racism that continues to persist in our teaching practices.
NZEI Te Riu Roa has launched its biggest pay equity claim so far – for all teachers. We talk to members who have been through the process and some involved in the new claim, to find out what out what’s involved – and why it’s worth it.
During the recent weather events schools have emerged as first responders to crisis in many close-knit communities. Where local authorities failed, groups of educators joined together as hubs of help. Ako spoke with one group of schools in Tāmaki Makaurau about their joint efforts in the face of crisis.
In times of tragedy and crisis, schools are often the glue that holds communities together. At the close of term one 2023, Ako visited one small school in Hawke’s Bay to learn how it became a regional hub after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Staff and students at two Te Tai Tokerau kura have been learning the challenging skill of tāniko and other weaving techniques. Ako finds out how this akoranga is supporting hauora and weaving the school community together.
An innovative language project involving 19 kindergarten teachers has shown the value of collaboration and using data to enhance intentional teaching in early childhood education.