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
Closed Captions
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 students 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.
No captions or transcript
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
Building school culture to address students’ needs
In this Edutopia video, students and staff at Pearl-Cohn High School talk about a daily practice similar to a whānau or home group time called “The Nest”. For students, the impact is increasing connection and community.
Publisher: Edutopia
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: Behaviour and learning
Understand:
Strategies for action:
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Commit to whole-school approachesShow suggestions for Commit to whole-school approaches
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Foster relationships and partnershipsShow suggestions for Foster relationships and partnerships
- Deepen relationships with students and whānau
- Connect with daily interactions
- Explore and find solutions together
- Empower students
- Support positive peer relationships
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Design learning for allShow suggestions for Design learning for all
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Foster wellbeing and mental healthShow suggestions for Foster wellbeing and mental health
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Embed social and emotional learningShow suggestions for Embed social and emotional learning
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Be proactiveShow suggestions for Be proactive
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Respond in challenging situationsShow suggestions for Respond in challenging situations
