This paper explores the place of the school playground in the lives of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We discuss the physical environment, school systems and practices that support the development of social competence and increased peer interactions for children with ASD in their school playground. Highlighted issues include the…

This article discusses social and emotional competence and its importance in young children's development. Foundations for children's social and emotional competence are developed during the early years and are linked with school success and later-in-life well-being. We discuss three factors affecting children's social and emotional interactions…

The ecological approach, based on the RTLB Toolkit that guides RTLBs in New Zealand, is one of the seven principles used for interventions for students with learning and behaviour concerns. As a result of a paradigm shift moving from a functional limitations perspective to a more inclusive/ecological perspective in 1999, RTLBs have been trained…

During 2008 and 2009, a group of nine Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) from Canterbury met as a Community of Practice to investigate the way that play in the school playground contributes to the social competence of students. While the original concern was around the needs of students who were unable to manage their behaviour in…

This paper explores features of successful inclusion through examples found in the literature. Schools have been given the imperative to become more inclusive through various government pronouncements and initiatives, but guidance in achieving that goal has been arguably wanting. School communities that have demonstrated more inclusive practice…

Literature on Maori pedagogy up until now has been disparate, some dealing with methodological issues, some with learning theory, some with environment and so forth. This article seeks to build one comprehensive picture of Maori pedagogy by weaving the myriad disparate themes in the literature into one unifying model. It is based on an EdD study…

This article contains the transcript of a session one mother ran in her child's class. The aim of the session was to give class members a better understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in general and of her son in particular. The effectiveness of her approach is evident in the follow-up stories children wrote and in the experiences this…

This article provides an insight into the educational needs, experiences and school support for deaf high school students attending a mainstream school, from the perspectives of the deaf students themselves, their teachers and support staff. Themes emerged from interviews with the students and staff around learning, communication, school culture…

As Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist in Tai Tokerau, we have worked in collaboration with CCS Northland over the last two years to facilitate two day workshops for students attending mainstream schools that have moderate to severe physical disabilities. We chose venues that were community based so that the students could be out of their…

This article describes the "Discovery Time" programme, a largely child-directed developmental programme, and discusses it in relation to the sociocultural approach to learning. It considers the effects of the programme on the development of children's oral language and cooperative social skills in a Year 1 classroom. Survey information…

This is the second of two papers providing a critique of categorisation and of the biomedical interpretation of personal adjustment issues experienced by children and youth. Whereas the first paper (Stanley, 2006; published in "Kairaranga" earlier this year) appraised this approach from an array of theoretical vantage points, this paper…