Here I introduce the rich contexts for exploring the big ideas.

Dr Bruce Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics explains how children feel calm when the signals they receive from their body and the outside world are not uncomfortable, distressing, or threatening. 

To enable a child to reflect and think abstractly, we need to follow a bottom-up approach. Dr. Perry recommends a physiologically appropriate engagement sequence called the "3 Rs" - Regulate, Relate, and Reason.

Dr Bruce Perry describes the neurosequential model.

Told to us through the voices of children, this unique animation teaches us that by putting together the seven-piece jigsaw puzzle of 'Developmental Trauma', we can understand how a child’s adverse childhood experiences have shaped their emotional world and outward behaviour. Once we understand this, we can then work with a child to help them with their developmental trauma using an innovative therapeutic approach called the ‘Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics’. This model recovers and repairs each part of a child’s brain in a specific, phased and effective order. 

Engage offers a series of free online mini lessons on:

• Sequential Development

• Activation of the Stress Response

• Understanding over sensitisation

Each lesson is concise and focussed, allowing participants to engage with the material at their own pace. With accessible content and a user-friendly format, they serve as a practical resource for personal and professional development. 

Being able to 'read' or 'perceive' where an individual is in relation to their 'Window of Tolerance' supports developing a helpful and appropriate response to the behaviours, thoughts and emotions an individual is experiencing 

* Schools can play a valuable role in helping students to recognise and widen their window of tolerance.  

* Humour, voice tone and body language help keep, or return students to, their window of tolerance.

This Beacon House comic which explores the shift from traditional language to trauma-informed language, creating compassion, hope, and connection for vulnerable individuals. A great visual resource to use when exploring language and shifts in how we understand and interpret behaviour. 

This great blog post from Ed Pysch Insight gives six typical statements about behaviour and how they might be reframed in the context of trauma.

Lynda Knight de Blois in this Leaders’ Connect hui recording from 21 October 2021, Lynda Knight-de Blois shares her whakaaro on moving "from trauma-informed to learning transformed".

The People’s Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa has enabled focused strategy aimed at addressing the root causes of racism, including the specific impacts of colonialism, while allowing Māori leadership and other communities to play a central role in shaping culturally relevant solutions aligned with aspirations for tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and systemic transformation. 

Frian Wadia  from Natina interviews Rebecca Sinclair from the Pākehā Project.

Rebecca shares about her mahi at the Pākehā Project and the role we all have to play towards upholding Te Tiriti. The korero highlights the importance of showing up in right relationship with others by knowing ourselves, at an individual and collective level, so we can be our authentic selves and also engage in difficult challenging conversations with confidence and compassion. 

As Rebecca shares her mahi at the Pākehā Project, she also shares insights and tools to resource ourselves and hold the tensions and complexities without polarising, judging, othering or belittling. this is what helps to bring down barriers and move forward with shared understanding, collaboration and mutuality. 

This video My World, My View was created by the Ministry of Education in 2016.  Ākonga tell what disability and inclusion mean for them.   

This video was created by the NZ Herald in 2017. It chronicles one year in the lives of students of Papakura High School. It highlights the power schools have to make changes for ākonga.

Dr Sarah Aiono discusses The Auditor- General John Ryan's October 2024 report addressing the Inequalities in our Education System. There is a link to the RNZ Panel discussing the report in this article. 

DaJonaire Washington is an Educator and Researcher who is passionate about educational equity, restorative practices, and safe spaces for children. In her Ted Talk she addresses implicit bias.

This poem "Invisible Privilege" by Sacha Norrie is a powerful presentation around cultural awareness and unconscious bias.  

Blank, Houkamau and Kingi (2016) conducted this powerful study on implicit bias and education in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

This study introduces you to :

• The "Pygamlion Effect"-how teachers expectations determine students' educational outcomes. 

• recognising  how unconscious bias influences teachers' relationships with Māori students is the key to lifting Māori educational achievement.

• Micro-agressions-these are subtle, ambiguous and often unintentional acts of casual racism. 

In this youth Tedtalk Kathryn Wilson introduces us to Microaggressions and their hidden dangers.

Can you think of a time you observed or overheard someone commit a microaggression?

• How did it make you feel?

• What response could you give in the future if you heard or observed the microaggression again?

BuzzFeed Australia has created a video of the privilege walk which is a useful tool to show the effect privilege plays in all of our lives. 

Macfarlane & Derby, 2018 critique superficial approaches to being culturally affirming and provide both examples and non-examples of more authentic practice. 

Children's rights ensure all mokopuna are heard and have what they need to grow up loved, safe, healthy, and happy. The Government has committed to the Children's Convention to make Aotearoa New Zealand a great place for all mokopuna. 

This child-friendly resource sets our all rights under the Children's Convention and explains the UN Committee's Concluding Observations on New Zealand in a way that children and young people will enjoy reading. 

In Education Matters to Me, a national survey of over 1600 tamariki and rangatahi, racism was one of six key themes of their educational experiences.

The report shared six key insights drawn from what children and young people said: 1. Understand me in my whole world

 2. People at school are racist towards me

 3. Relationships mean everything to me

 4. Teach me the way I learn best

 5. I need to be comfortable before I can learn

 6. It’s my life - let me have a say 

Having a great teacher was the most important thing highlighted by children and young people. 

I encourage you to look through the results of the Education Matters to Me website.

As you read consider :

• How can you give ākonga more voice?

• What can you do to make a difference in the six key themes of the report?  

• What has changed for ākonga since this report was published? 

This great TED Talk  highlights the importance of connections and why they are absolutely critical for children and their development.  When children are ignored, neglected and isolated, they get distressed, become anxious and start to find alternative ways to connect. These alternative ways may be dysfunctional, misunderstood, ineffective and sometimes harmful. So when you see big emotions and behaviours in a child that seem inappropriate or 'challenging' reflect on how you can connect with this individual child.