Support positive peer relationships
In the ngahere plants grow together into communities. Support peer relationships to help ākonga to care for one another and support everyone’s wellbeing.
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Build relationships for learning
Build relationships for learning
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Facilitate friendships
Facilitate friendships
Friendships are an important foundation in an inclusive classroom.
Some strategies to create and maintain friendships.
- Identify interests – Allow learners to express their interests through discussion, surveys, games, and clubs to help them discover other students who are like-minded.
- Highlight strengths – Highlight student strengths to help learners to feel valued and confident among their peers.
- Emphasise social skills – Embed opportunities to teach social skills in the curriculum, for example, in games, problem-solving activities, class meetings or discussions.
- Provide opportunities – Encourage friendships through social opportunities such as play, group work, class trips or school-wide activity days.
Foster buddy systems
Foster buddy systems
The tuakana-teina relationship provides the model for a buddy system. The older or more expert tuakana helps and guides the younger or less expert teina as these learners create digital stories.
Circle of friends
Circle of friends
Creating a student support network.
A teacher shares how she uses the Circle of Friends strategy to tackle challenging behaviour and promote inclusion in year 7.
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Foster collaboration and group work
Foster collaboration and group work
Provide opportunities for ākonga to work with others. Carefully design group or pair activities to maximise productive interactions and learning.
- Encourage tuakana-teina relationships and create a culture where students provide support for each other.
- Provide a kete of strategies to help students to listen actively to each other, share ideas, and recognise different points of view.
- Use a variety of thinking tools, such as De Bono's thinking hats.
- Assign roles such as speaker, listener, and note-taker to the group members.
- Develop cross-cultural communication skills, learning how conventions for conversation vary across cultures and contexts.
- Monitor the discussions to ensure that all students understand the task and have opportunities to participate.
Useful resources
Useful resources
Sparklers website
The Sparklers website offers a variety of activities to support kindness and friendship.
Publisher: Sparklers
Kei Whea a Mauri Tau
Resource for parents and teachers to read to tamariki aged 6 to 8 years to help them learn about connecting with themselves, others and the environment, and to learn how to respond to their emotions.
Publisher: He Paiaka Tōtara
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Foster relationships and partnerships”:
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Current page Support positive peer relationships
Return to the guide “Behaviour and learning”
How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Collaborative planning for learning
Understand:
- Understanding collaborative planning for learning
Strategies for action:
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Collaboratively planning a universally designed learning environmentShow suggestions for Collaboratively planning a universally designed learning environment
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Making a collaborative learning support planShow suggestions for Making a collaborative learning support plan
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Coordinating community and cluster-wide learning supportShow suggestions for Coordinating community and cluster-wide learning support
