Features
Autumn 202218 Mar 2022
Kua tuku iho – handing down our past
Until recently, the historical misdeeds towards Māori have been swept under the carpet, with the hope that they would be forgotten. The Aotearoa Histories curriculum is one step towards changing this. What do kura Māori think about this change and the importance of teaching our past?
Winter 20213 May 2021
Te Whare Tapa Whā – the four sides of wellbeing
Education professionals will know the popular hauora model Te Whare Tapa Whā, but what does it mean in practice? Ako finds out.
Winter 202128 Apr 2021
Let tamariki get stuck in
One of the most powerful forces in tamariki wellbeing is their own voice. Read about how these schools let tamariki lead the way.
Winter 202127 Apr 2021
Joy, Colour, Wonder, Fun, Life: Wellbeing and the Arts
Making art helps us slow down, process our feelings, and gives us permission to care for ourselves. Ako talks to schools who use art practice to support hauora and bring in joy, colour and wonder.
Winter 202127 Apr 2021
Unhurried moments of care
Ako talks to early childhood educators about how they use attachment theory to create secure relationships with tamariki, and the barriers they have to overcome.
Winter 202127 Apr 2021
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.
Winter 202127 Apr 2021
Nurtured minds are our friends!
Sam Hayden of Northcross Intermediate writes about “Add Value”, the programme he created to support student hauora.
Winter 202125 Apr 2021
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!
Summer 202114 Jan 2021
Making Transitions
As Taranaki makes a “Just Transition” from fossil fuels to a carbon-neutral economy, educators, whānau and tamariki must transition as well.
Summer 202114 Jan 2021
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.
Summer 202114 Jan 2021
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.
Summer 202113 Jan 2021
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.
Summer 202113 Jan 2021
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.
15 Oct 2020
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.
Covid-19 20207 Aug 2020
Member memories: The school in my backyard
Erin Dalton Steel recalls her childhood at Oranga Primary School, before talking with current principal Bridget Lummis.
Covid-19 20206 Aug 2020
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
Covid-19 202020 Jul 2020
Member memories: Riselaw Road School and Macandrew Intermediate, Dunedin
Alison Kroon who has retired, but is still a highly sought after relief teacher, recalls her own schooling more than 50 years ago.
Covid-19 202019 Jun 2020
Member memories: Rural Manawatū schools
NZEI Te Riu Roa member Kylie Parry, a teacher aide and librarian at St Mary’s School in Carterton, reminisces about her time at Rangiwahia School, a rural school in Manawatū that opened in 1895 and closed for good in 2013.