Our Why

To uphold mana, rights and equity for all.

All children and young people in Aotearoa have the right for their learning and wellbeing needs to be understood and met with respect, compassion and best practice in education, health, disability support services, and in the community. However, this is not always a reality for disabled, neurodivergent and many other marginalised ākonga. Yet they all deserve quality educational experiences, a sense of belonging, wellbeing and community.

To understand the impact of adverse life experiences.

In particular, disabled and neurodivergent ākonga, Māori and Pacific Nations students, LGBTQ+, and children who have experienced trauma due to neglect, abuse, developmental factors, socioeconomic and political factors, unpredictable stressors, and traumatic life experiences/events are more likely to be misunderstood, stigmatised, punished, discriminated and excluded; all of which adds to the ongoing trauma for the individual ākonga and often their whānau. While some ākonga walk into schools with trauma, others often experience trauma within schools.

To promote individual and collective resilience. 

Trauma-responsive approaches help us to understand and address issues of trauma, behavioural challenges, inequity, discrimination, and punitive measures experienced in many educational settings through the lens of brain development, stress physiology, nervous system, and neuroscience of learning which allows for a sense of safety, inclusion, belonging and eventually learning.  

To educate the educators.

School staff need to better understand how they can impact existing trauma or cause trauma through their own interactions and responses to the individual ākonga. This can only be done through school wide ownership, mana enhancing and supportive strengths-based approaches, by having informed teachers, parents, professionals, peers and wider community. 

To shift mindsets.

Trauma informed approaches also allow for kaiako to self-reflect and consider their own responses, behaviours, personal life experiences and trauma which may in turn influence their interactions with ākonga and teaching practice, particularly for ākonga who are often perceived as challenging. 

To create a sense of safety and belonging. 

Educational spaces in Aotearoa need to become inclusive and safe learning spaces for all ākonga and kaiako, where connection and well-being is a priority and ākonga do not experience further trauma through punitive, behaviourist, segregational and exclusionary approaches. In particular, we will focus on the inclusion of ākonga who experience trauma as a result of discrimination and exclusions due to disability, neurodivergence, race, gender, sexual orientation, and those experiencing trauma due to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, bullying, socioeconomic disadvantage, and major traumatic incidents.

To improve collective health and social outcomes.  

Educators are in a unique position to progress student and community health, social equity and the honouring of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We acknowledge the imperative for children to access education that develops their capacities and personalities to their full potential, as asserted in Article 26 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948) as the foundation of a socially just society. 

Proactive use of a trauma-responsive social-justice agenda in schools is emerging in the education literature, and Aotearoa could lead the way on this important mahi. Equity in education is achieved through fairness and the elimination of social exclusion, and the social and structural barriers in communities, such as poverty, and poor access to health and social services matched to the needs of each community.