Seen not heard.
Every child has the right to success in NZ but we’re putting some of our most vulnerable children through a system that wasn’t designed for them.
Let’s break down the barriers for these children.
Our tamariki need better.
Let’s chat. Let’s understand each other better.
We can open conversations with each other that will make a difference to our whanau who are struggling.
Liberty/Takiwātanga - Seen Not Heard is a research project into the experiences of some of our most vulnerable children at school to understand great practice and identify ways we can improve
Māia writer Ashlee Sturme is leading this project in 2023.
She say, ‘I am passionate about bringing the lived experience of whanau and their support teams in schools, to the table for discussion. We can learn from what has worked for other whanau, or what events happened where schools could have done better.’
These children require additional support in our education system and it will benefit school Boards, Senior Leadership Teams, teachers and other staff to understand from a whanau perspective what this support can look like.
“I am confident I will cover some great success stories from whanau and school staff where solutions have resulted in great personal success for the child. I am equally aware of situations that have failed the child and I hope covering them will allow education providers as a sector to improve.”
The Liberty/Takiwātanga project
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Lets build a strong link between schools and whanau.
This project is about learning from what has gone well and what has gone wrong.
We’re opening the dialogue by sharing our stories. -
We’ll support you to share your story. Send it to us, or book a time to have a zoom with our writers. We’ll get your story written and give it to you to okay.
We will handle your story with care. We will remove any identifying details to protect our children.
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Maia will publish the collection of stories thanks to support from a study award.
The Board Member Study Awards are sponsored by Crombie Lockwood and Vero Liability and are provided through the New Zealand School Trustees Association.
This study award will finance printing and distribution of the collection.
Stories will be printed in a book, shared online through our website and socials, and shared to media to promote the book.
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With the dialogue we have opened, we can try and do better. Share this project and book amongst your colleagues, friends, whanau and others who work with our previous children.
A collection of short stories/essays from whanau, education providers and health professionals in Aotearoa who live and work with some of our most vulnerable tamariki - children diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, SPD and the like.
Stories from parents of children with ADHD/ASD and other behavioural difficulties and disabilities, detailing the journeys particularly around the challenges to accessing education, and the heart-breaking scenarios that often exclude and ostracise these children in NZ.
As a minority in Aotearoa, and often exhausted by not just their personal situations but the endless battles for treatment and support, these stories are not heard. If there is to be change for these children, then the narrative around education, inclusion, healthcare, parental support, all needs to hear the voices of these whanau. Only when our culture examines what we expect from our children, how we are treating our vulnerable members of society, and listen to what adjustments would make a difference to them, can we see change in our systems and in our communities.
Every week, an increasing number of stories and pleas for help are posted on social media by whanau, in small private groups where they seek support and information. More than anything, they seek validation and understanding. Children who are pushed through systems not designed for them, who are punished for behaviour that is responsive to stress, and then who have their educational opportunities altered for life by decisions made by those who do not understand. These stories need to be bought to the forefront of the conversations around disability support in Aotearoa.
There is a gap in the literature available in this space - some books around emotional regulation, or understanding children with these diagnosis's, but nothing that examines the current situation and collates the changes that whanau would like to see, and the experiences of health professionals. In this space, the Liberty/Takiwātanga project will contribute to those working with our whanau, act as a support text for other families, and provide insight for those making decisions at governance level.
We would like to talk to whanau whose children have been excluded from school, whose children have had wins in the school system, whanau who have been hurt, and to whanau who have support workers come into their lives and make a difference (and document the strategies that worked). We would like to talk to teachers and principals who have punished and excluded these children, and understand their reasoning for their decision making. We would like to meet educators and support workers who believe in their tamariki and have therefore made their lives better. We would like to talk to health professionals such as those in child psychology teams, who work with these children and understand what they require, in order to present strategies that educators could use. We would also like to cover information from the Ministry of Education who could provide enlightenment on the policies and procedures set by the NZ Government.
This collection can make a real difference to the culture of our country. We can open conversations with each other that will make a difference to our whanau who are struggling. School leadership teams and Boards can consider and have a better understanding of individual success for these tamariki after reading these stories and we hope that translates into more responsive decision making. Every child has the right to success in NZ so let’s break down the barriers for these children.
Liberty/Takiwātanga - Seen Not Heard will be collated and published in 2023.
The Liberty/Takiwātanga - Seen Not Heard project is supported by The Board Member Study Awards, which are sponsored by Crombie Lockwood and Vero Liability and are provided through the New Zealand School Trustees Association.