Carol Mutch

Research with, by, for and about Children: Lessons from Disaster Contexts

There is a need for critically informed studies that include childrens perspectives on the role of children in disaster contexts, given the increased incidence of disasters resulting from the global forces of climate change. Three case studies are presented from two different disaster contexts in Australia and New Zealand, where the notion of child empowerment fits within the broader political culture of liberal democracy. Each of these case studies promotes childrens right to participate, consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In attempting to provide opportunities for children to articulate their perspective on disaster, this study recognizes the manner in which the increased prevalence and scale of disasters may further complicate and distort possibilities for the actualization of childrens participation rights. In doing so the authors recommend a theory-informed approach, including recognizing the complementarity of competing theories of childhood, and advocate for childrens capacity and right to participate in decision-making which affects their lives. This article promotes these concepts while still recognizing their right to safety. It also demonstrates how the use of distancing and framing provides a safe space for child involvement within disaster-related research, and provides examples of appropriate methodologies to engage children and provide opportunities for meaningful contributions. Finally, implementation partnerships are discussed as a means of embedding the research within existing supported environments.

The role of schools in disaster preparedness, response and recovery: what can we learn from the literature?

In order to contextualise the articles in this special issue, this introductory article surveys the relevant literature from recent disasters in mostly developed countries in order to explore the wider role of schools in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The first section argues that as schools are hubs of their communities, it is important to understand the literature on communities in disaster contexts. This is followed by recent examples of school experiences of disasters, particularly in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. The final section synthesises the literature on children and young people in disaster contexts. The article closes with a set of recommendations for integrating schools into disaster planning.

“Sailing through a river of emotions”: capturing children's earthquake stories

Purpose – The three case studies reported in this paper are drawn from a wider project in which schools in Canterbury, New Zealand, were invited to tell the stories of their experiences of the 2010/2011 earthquakes. The purpose of this paper is to capture the stories for the schools, their communities and for New Zealands historical record. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken was qualitative and participatory. Each school had control over their project design and implementation. The researchers were partners and facilitators in assisting each school to reach its goal. In these three case studies approximately 100 participants including principals, teachers, students and families were engaged in generating data to create tangible and long-lasting end products. Findings – The two themes from the data highlighted in this paper are: first, the importance of providing emotional processing opportunities for children without severe post-trauma symptoms to support their recovery and second, the ways...

The New Zealand earthquakes and the role of schools in engaging children in emotional processing of disaster experiences

The earthquakes that rocked the city of Christchurch and surrounding districts in Canterbury, New Zealand, were to take their toll on families, schools and communities. The places that had once represented safety and security for most children were literally and figuratively turned upside down. Rather than reinforce the trauma and continue to frame children as passive victims, the study reported here aimed to help children reframe their experiences through active engagement in participatory research projects. This article reports on three schools drawn from a UNESCO-funded project in which schools recorded their earthquake stories. While children were the centre of each of the school’s earthquake stories, schools engaged children to different extents in their chosen projects. These three schools exemplify different places along a continuum of children’s engagement in research on their own experiences. In one school, children, families, teachers and the principal all contributed to an illustrated book of their experiences. In another school, children created a series of mosaic panels to record the community’s story before, during and after the earthquakes. In the third school, children became documentary makers and interviewed other children about their earthquake experiences. In all cases, children found their projects positive and helpful activities, enabling them to put their experiences into a broader context. This article argues that schools have an important role to play in providing emotional processing activities which help children gain perspective and distance as part of their recovery from large-scale disaster events.

Lessons from disaster: the power and place of story

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to view the human experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes through a varied set of disciplinary lenses in order to give voice to those who experienced the trauma of the earthquakes, especially groups whose voices might not otherwise be heard. Design/methodology/approach – The research designs represented in this special issue and discussed in this introductory paper cover the spectrum from open-ended qualitative approaches to quantitative survey design. Data gathering methods included video and audio interviews, observations, document analysis and questionnaires. Data were analysed using thematic, linguistic and statistical tools. Findings – The themes discussed in this introductory paper highlight that the Canterbury response and recovery sequence follows similar phases established in other settings such as Hurricane Katrina and the Australian bushfires. The bonding role of community networks was shown to be important, as was the ability to adapt formal and informa...

Assessment for, of and as Learning: Developing a Sustainable Assessment Culture in New Zealand Schools.

In line with international trends, assessment policies and practices have increased in importance in New Zealand over the last two decades. The focus in this article is on examining the contested nature of the development of an assessment culture in New Zealand — one that meets the needs of the government by providing information on school accountability and yet maintains the autonomy of schools to continue school-based decision-making. The article begins by providing background to the New Zealand context and a brief description of current policies. The main emphasis, however, is on three companion themes in the development of assessment policy — assessment and improvement, assessment and accountability, and assessment and sustainability. These themes were drawn from an analysis of key documents and aligned with a conceptual framework drawn from the schooling effectiveness literature to provide a lens to examine the past, present and possible future of assessment policy and practice in New Zealand.

Current Perceptions of the New Social Studies Curriculum in New Zealand

In 1993 The New Zealand Curriculum Framework outlined the key areas of study for all New Zealand schools. One by one curriculum guidelines for the implementation of these key areas were released. The development of the social studies guidelines was a strongly contested process and led to three quite different versions being worked through before the final one was released late 1997. A recent qualitative study shows that this elongated process was not to the detriment of social studies but rather led to a clarification of what is meant by social studies in the New Zealand context. It also raised the profile of social studies and cemented its place in the New Zealand school curriculum.

‘When you looked at me, you didn’t judge me’: supporting transient students and their families in New Zealand primary schools

With its highly mobile population, especially amongst those groups already economically and socially marginalised, New Zealand has a growing group of children who are at risk socially, behaviourally and educationally because of the transient nature of their family situations. This article reports on a study conducted by the Education Review Office of 11 case-study primary schools that demonstrated good practice in supporting transient students and their families to make successful transitions into a new school setting. The findings are reported under five headings that highlight the key themes: school culture, school leadership, relationships with families, effective teaching and full service social support. Schools that worked successfully with transient students and their families were not limited to those that had specific initiatives in place but were also those that had an inclusive school culture with appropriate systems and processes for all students.

Citizenship Education in New Zealand: We Know ‘What Works' but to What Extent is it Working?

Citizenship education appears in the curricula of many nations. The aims of citizenship education are often based on the aspirations of society and supported by research and theory that describes what citizenship education is or should be. Seldom do we find links between these aspirational visions and actual societal outcomes. Citizenship education, in different guises, has been a goal of the New Zealand education system since formal schooling was established in 1877. This article sets out to ask whether this focus has had the intended outcome. The citizenship education goals of the current curriculum are matched against national and international studies that give an insight into what kind of society and what kind of citizens New Zealand has produced. The results show that overall New Zealand is a stable, democratic, safe and fair society but with areas of injustice and inequity still to be addressed.

The role of schools in helping communities copes with earthquake disasters: the case of the 2010–2011 New Zealand earthquakes

ABSTRACT This article draws from the author’s four-year study of five school communities hit by the 2010–2011 earthquake sequence in the Canterbury region of New Zealand to highlight the roles that schools played in supporting their communities in the aftermath of the disaster. The article begins by synthesising the relevant literature on disasters, schools in earthquake disasters, and the importance of schools to their communities, pre- and post-disaster. The following themes from the data are discussed: (a) the role of schools in their communities prior to the earthquakes; (b) the role of schools in immediate rescue and response; (c) the role of schools in short-term relief; and (d) the role of schools in long-term recovery. The author then argues that as more evidence shows that schools play such crucial roles in post-disaster response and recovery, we need to better prepare and support them to undertake these functions. Further, we need to recognise the wider roles schools play supporting local communities to build and sustain resilience as part of on-going community cohesion and connectedness, so that society is better prepared when major disasters occur.