Abstract
Te Rito Toi is an online open access educational resource designed to help teachers respond to the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and provide all children with opportunities to engage with the arts. Central to the Te Rito Toi project was the concept of well-being, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGD 3). The study reported in this article delved into the perspectives of a group of New Zealand educators who used Te Rito Toi after the Covid-19 lockdown to explore the ways in which this resource helped them to engage their students in both individual and collective recovery. The analysis of the interviews revealed the following four themes: 1) building relationships and a sense of belonging; 2) enhancing communication and empathy; 3) connecting with wider social issues; and 4) contributing to community recovery.
Highlights
Te Rito Toi, an arts-based educational resource developed during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in New Zealand, was designed to support teachers and principals as schools reopened (O’Connor and Estellés, 2021; van Lieshout, 2020)
At the centre of the project was a recognition that a focus on well-being through relationship building and community recovery was essential before schools could re-engage with the formal curriculum (e.g., O’Connor, 2013a; Mutch, 2020b)
This study delved into the perspectives of a group of New Zealand educators who used Te Rito Toi after the Covid-19 lockdown to explore the ways in which this resource helped them to engage their students in both individual and collective recovery
Summary
Te Rito Toi, an arts-based educational resource developed during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in New Zealand, was designed to support teachers and principals as schools reopened (O’Connor and Estellés, 2021; van Lieshout, 2020). At the centre of the project was a recognition that a focus on well-being through relationship building and community recovery was essential before schools could re-engage with the formal curriculum (e.g., O’Connor, 2013a; Mutch, 2020b). In many ways, this approach mirrored the broader governmental and social response to the pandemic, characterised by an approach centered around manaakitanga. Manaakitanga is a term that is impossible to translate directly into English, its true meanings are deeply embedded in Māori culture It is, commonly understood in New Zealand as having at its heart the idea that communal well-being has importance equal to, and even greater than, one’s own. Nga toi can be translated as the arts, that too is not a full translation
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