Home school relationships – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

Learning From Each Other: A final report

Introduction Pacific parents and community members have much to contribute to teacher learning and thus to the education of Pacific students. Although the concept of Pacific success, through the education of Pacific students, has become ubiquitous as an aspiration, there has so far been limited research that has conceptualised Pacific education success in community terms. This is especially true in relation to teacher learning, teacher theorising, and changed practice. Understanding how to socialise teachers to generate and sustain new practice possibilities, informed by appreciation of the values, aspirations, and critiques of the Pacific parents and students they seek to serve, is therefore a priority. Learning From Each Other is a Teaching

Understand Me: Storied-Conversations as Afa for Strengthening Relationships, Curriculum and Pedagogies

Mā ngā korero tuku iho tātou me ō tātou ao e kitea ai, e rongongia ai, e whaiora ai.[1] E tatou te fauina i tatou ma a tatou si’osi’omaga, e ala iā tatou tala.[2] We craft ourselves and our worlds in stories. Understand Me was born out of an aspirational exploration of ways for teachers to deepen relationships with young children and families to open space for their knowledges to be valued in the everyday educational curriculum. The origin was a desire to facilitate a shift from awareness of cultural competencies to action that values family pedagogies in the learning life of the classroom. Family pedagogies are everyday ways of knowing,

School achievement: Why summer matters

Introduction The “summer learning effect” is where students’ school literacy achievement plateaus or declines over summer. This limits students’ levels of achievement over time which can create a barrier to decile 1 schools’ effectiveness. It is a well known effect both within New Zealand and worldwide, but there is limited research evidence on how to overcome it. Our aim was to identify factors that may help overcome the summer learning effect in reading in decile 1 schools in New Zealand. Key findings The summer learning effect was confirmed as a major barrier to ongoing achievement: the gains made over the school year disappeared. Specific preparation by teachers for students and guidance

Strengthening Responsive and Reciprocal Relationships in a Whānau Tangata Centre: an Action Research Project

1. Research questions and aims Background to the project This project came about after discussions with the general manager of the Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association and Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips (University of Waikato) about setting up a research partnership to support the teachers at Taitoko Kindergarten in Levin. The teachers were establishing an integrated community centre (the whānau tangata centre) as part of a parent support and development initiative funded by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Development. This initiative in Levin includes a drop-in centre for parents, parent workshops on topics of the parents’ choice, a well-resourced whānau room, facilities for infants and toddlers, school liaison