TE RITO TOI - What do we need to do before students come back?

13^th May 2020

Webinar with Professors Peter O'Connor and Carol Mutch

TE RITO TOI - What do we need to do before students come back?

Te Rito Toi is a resource created to help teachers work with children when they first return to school following major traumatic or life changing events.

AT THE HEART OF TE RITO TOI is the understanding that schools must not just prepare students for the future but they also need to help them make sense of the present. After disasters and crises, schools must as a first priority help learners safely explore the changed world in which they live.

What do students need? 

They need to see things which are familiar, school, playground, friends. We need to show that some things are the same and others different.

What do you do on day one?

It is not about catching up on lost work, it is about keeping the focus on wellbeing – spiritual and physical, and looking after the need for students to feel safe, cared for and loved by ensuring they feel they are in a safe place. There will be high levels of anxiety so go back to working on relationships it’s not about literacy and numeracy. Look to strengthen the relationship, don’t feel it should go back to normal. Classrooms need to be fun, good places to be in, the best way to deal with things is through a pedagogy of love and care.

The results after the Christchurch earthquakes improved because the schools returned to focus on a pedagogy of love and care.

Learning happens in a range of ways, find gentle ways to the curriculum – the curriculum will arise!

What have students been doing? 

Let this be the time to share what they’ve been doing – best way to do this is through the Arts, such as: fiction picture books.

www.theeducationhub.org.nz/bear-goes-into-lockdown 

The Arts help us to name emotions, thinking and feelings. The process of ‘doing’ or ‘making’ allows time for students to relax, talk and interact. Singing is also important – have fun, dance, move! Find the sideways in!

when your house burns down you won’t build it exactly the same again

WE don’t have to bounce back as we left– we can go back differently! Instead it can be strengths and interests driven, not assessment based. I think this is really important, and it is great to have educators talking about holding off on assessments but will those in power agree?

Sadly, from the Christchurch experience we know there’s not enough mental health support available – therefore, self-help is needed to look after oneself and colleagues. Going forward as staff, we should be careful about judging fellow peers, everybody has a lot more going on than we see or know, we need to  allow for safe, respectful ways of checking in with each other.