Core Education

Teacher aides are daily are challenged develop themselves in a range of skills to provide excellent environments for the learners that they teach and interact with. As an integral part of education system in Aotearoa, teacher aides must be supported and empowered to create equitable spaces for their students to learn and grow. Amy-Lee Budd and Alice Frame kōrero about the significant role of teacher aides and the importance of finding collaborative outlets to develop their teaching practices.

Join author and publisher of A New Dawn, Emeli Sione and Dahlia Malaeulu, as they talanoa about the power of Pasifika storytelling and how it can help us to navigate inequities in the classroom and beyond.

Katrina Laurie, accredited facilitator and product manager of uLearn, discusses how uLearn is all about raising the flag around multiple issues of inequities in education and acts as a catalyst for educational change - and how uLearn 2023 is no different. What is unique about uLearn 2023 is the theme - Stand together, like kahikatea. This theme’ challenges us to collaborate as delegates and colleagues to address issues of inequity for learners, and also serves as a powerful metaphor of strength and unity of purpose.

Te Tiwha and Pam have developed their working relationship founded on what it means to be Tiriti partners in education. They have come to understand that, more often than not, this means “navigating between the spaces”. They share experiences which feature the challenges of collective responsibility for the benefit of learners and whānau in Whanganui. Their insights are a work in progress to harness collective purpose and action within the Whanganui education sector that has invited a rebalancing of relationships between early childhood, schooling and tertiary provision with mana whenua – whānau, hapū and iwi communities. There is no equity ‘routemap’ for all; each community has its own actors in education. What is shared here will be insights into one community that may help unlock barriers and assumptions for others taking a similar journey.

Dr Keri Milne-Ihimaera- Ngāi Tahu, has over 16 years’ experience in roles as a principal, General Manager, and Executive Director where she provides a Māori woman's perspective in the areas of education, leadership, people and strategy.

The following questions from schools are answered by a water expert: 1. Could the storage ponds fill up with sediment from the Waimakariri River, especially after a flood? 2. When did irrigation start becoming popular? 3. How reliable is the electronics that control irrigators. Are there many maintenance issues? 4. Does Canterbury farming produce anything, that relies on irrigation, that is grown nowhere else in NZ and is important to world food supply? 5. Do you use filters in irrigation? 6. Has New Zealand used flood irrigation? 7. Why is Canterbury more irrigated than anywhere else in NZ? 8. Why do places like the Waikato not have much irrigation? 9. Are there new careers in water that were not around 10 or 20 years ago?

The following questions from schools are answered by a water expert: 1. What does water have to do with our Turangawaewae? 2. How is water made? 3. Why do some countries have more water than others? 4. Why do we depend on water? Why do we need it? 5. How does water become salty? 6. How long can we live without water? 7. How much water do farmers need to use? 8. How can we locate groundwater? 9. Can fossil water evaporate? 10. How much of a problem is glyphosate in run-off water?

The following questions from schools are answered by water experts: 1. What are the reasons for our waterways being polluted and how is this being fixed? 2. How big of a problem are poisonous algae and is it possible to get rid of them altogether? 3. Is there a way to turn sea water into fresh water and make it usable for farming? 4. What happens to all our waste water, do we reuse it? 5. How much do our actions impact the environment and how can we clean the water that has been impacted? 6. How can we help keep our water clean? 7. What happens when the groundwater runs out? 8. Is plastic pollution a problem in our fresh waterways like it is in the ocean? 9. Has there always been water on Earth? If not, where did it come from? 10. Can NZ's waterways/environment sustain the irrigation that's needed to support our farming industry?

Hollie Smith shares her Te reo Māori journey through her own experiences and performs some of her iconic waiata.

The opening keynote of uLearn 2022 by Valerie Hannon was a pertinent summary of the challenges for 21st century education and the changes it needs. Hannon embraced familiar ideas about the age of hyper change and disruption; change is occurring faster, and penetrating more aspects of society than ever before. There is no longer steady incremental progress, so we have to change our skills as educators. There is consensus on where we need to go, but also agreement that we are heading in the wrong direction.

The following questions are answered by volcano eperts: 1. Shane, tell us a bit more about your work with regarding resilience to a possible Taranaki eruption. 2. Nathan, Lena, Shane, what are some special moments in your jobs studying volcanoes that really stand out? 3. What would be the impact on us in coastal Taranaki (Okato) of a Taranaki eruption? 4. In an eruption, would all the bridges be destroyed by lahars and would we be cut off in Okato? 5. Have our evacuation points been identified for Okato? 6. The shape of our mountain is iconic. Would its shape be changed by an eruption? 7. Were our famous, now destroyed, Pink and White Terraces travertine? 8. How does Aotearoa compare to other countries regarding volcanoes and earthquakes? 9. Okato school is into gardening. How has the volcano made the soil good for that?

The following questions from schools are answered by a scientist: 1. What weather do you find most interesting to learn about and study? 2. Where in NZ does the most severe weather occur? 3. What do you do when you go to a civil defence centre - what are the next steps once you arrive? 4. Can you tell us more about how hail is formed? How a tornado is formed? 5. What are the ongoing effects of a landslide? And are there ways we can prevent them from happening? (We have a lot of houses on the hills here in Eastbourne). 6. Why is no-one cleaning up/able to clean up Tologa bay? 7. Is there any severe weather that helps us? 8. Are young people coming through to do your jobs in the future? 9. What happens if you go inside a tornado? 10. What is the general size for tornadoes in New Zealand?

The following questions from schools are answered by a scientist: 1. Tornadoes are not common in New Zealand. Why is that? 2. Does Antarctica influence weather events in New Zealand? 3. We measure rain daily? How do you measure rain and hail? 4. How dangerous is it for children to be out in rain and thunder? Max 5. What mindset helps you cope best to survive in a disaster? 6. Our recent floods were a one in 200 year event? Was that a weather bomb or an extreme weather event? 7. What are the most concerning issues for New Zealand weather experts?

Listen to a recording of the live Q&A session from the LEARNZ online field trip "Hīkoi for hauora: making connections in the Haakarimata Ranges". The following questions are answered: 1. What is the best walk each of you have ever been on and what made it so memorable? 2. Why is it important to get out and connect with nature? Can it improve my hauora/wellbeing? 3. Is it important to know about the stories of the places around me, like maunga, awa, why? 4. How can I find out about the places to go walking in around me and the stories about these places? 5. Why is important to look after these places? What can we do to look after the places around us? Related links: https://planmywalk.nz and https://www.herengaanuku.govt.nz/ and https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/recreation/trails-and-walks and https://arataki.app/arataki-cultural-trails/ and https://www.learnz.org.nz/walking231

Listen to a recording of the second of two live Q&A sessions from the LEARNZ online field trip "Saving our southern species: Wildlife Hospital Dunedin". The following questions from schools are answered: 1. Why did you start up the hospital and who did you start it up with? 2. What is the strangest animal you have taken care of and why? 3. What animal did you have to do the biggest operation/rehabilitation on? 4. How old do you have to be to be a volunteer at the Hospital? Do they need to have qualifications, if so what? 5. What is the most rewarding or memorable part of your job? 6. What is the most difficult animal you have worked with? 7. What is the most common or favourite creature you see in the hospital?

Listen to a recording of the first of two live Q&A sessions from the LEARNZ online field trip "Saving our southern species: Wildlife Hospital Dunedin". The following questions from schools are answered: 1. What is the most common sickness or problem that you see at the wildlife hospital? 2. What is the most endangered species you have treated at the hospital? 3. What made you start caring about the environment and New Zealand's native animals? 4. What is the most skills you need to be a veterinarian? 5. How many animal habitats do you have at the hospital? 6. Do you treat every animal or are there some animals you cannot treat, for example if they are too big or too dangerous? 7. We have been investigating bugs and insects. Some of us have created a bug hospital for our class and school. Have you ever tried helping and insect or bug at your hospital? 8. How many animals do you treat in a week? 9. How is your hospital funded? 10. What is the oldest and youngest patients the hospital has treated? 11. How many

“With so many changes happening in so many places in the system at the same time, it’s easy to understand why many teachers are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the idea of tackling a curriculum refresh.” Amy-Lee Budd writes why you should invest your time and effort into another curriculum change from a perspective of providing equitable outcomes for all. This podcast is an audio-adapted version of Amy-Lee Budd's recent blog post. You can read the blog here http://bit.ly/3Y6K5B2

Adrian Hipa, Senior Advisor Ministry for Pacific Peoples, and Tutuila Lio Va'auli talanoa on the importance of Aotearoa New Zealand Histories and Pasifika History being taught in schools for Aotearoa New Zealand born students of Niuean descent.

'Ko wai au? Who are you - that's what te Tiriti asks - who are you in Aotearoa New Zealand and how do you utilise (Te Tiriti) to maximise the work that you do - for the wellbeing of others in the community. 'It's actually really fundamental because it invites anyone who is not tangata whenua - who is tanagata tau iwi or tanagata te tiriti to really ask of themselves who they are in Aotearoa New Zealand and what does that look like?' 'In the work that I do, it's really important to invite students to develop their Treaty-based framework' 'It opens up the space and I've never seen the students become so passionate about reclaiming who they are. As Pasifika. As Pasifika here in Aotearoa, New Zealand.'

1. When we studied how healthy our waters are we found lots of water snails, but we didn’t find a large variety of other invertebrates - do you know why? 2. What do you think is the most effective water test? 3. Is it ok for us to take a river stone for a souvenir or is this not acceptable? 4. When does a river become unhealthy? 5. What type of plants can help awa and which don’t help? 6. What do you think about tourism - does it make a difference to the awa? 7. Do fish or other water-life affect the water quality? 8. What would your iwi like to change about the way your local river is used? 9. By swimming in awa, are we helping it or not? 10. What are some of the best ways to clean our rivers and keep it clean? 11. How do you tell if the rock is a good one for carving and how do you carry out these heavy rocks? 12. How do we know if it is safe to swim in a river or not? 13. What is the healthiest river you monitor and what makes it healthy? 14. If the awa is blue, does this mean it is safe to drink? 15. how