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Professional Learning and Development (PLD)

Flourish PLD offers support to teachers and school staff to enhance their understanding and ability to confidently engage with students and their families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with a specific focus on Muslim, migrant, and refugee families. Our ultimate goal is to assist all schools in creating welcoming learning environments where all children, regardless of their background, can feel a sense of belonging and thrive.

Flourish PLD can assist schools, kura, kāhui ako and communities of learning in a range of ways and are Ministry of Education approved for both cultural capability and local curriculum PLD priorities. We can work with your school or cluster to tailor a programme of support that reflects your specific context, needs and local community. We are happy to work with a small group of teachers or a whole school community. We can run/assist with workshops, engagement sessions, coaching and mentoring of staff, setting up new initiatives, reviewing current practices, building relationships and partnerships with relevant CALD parents, communities and NGOs. We enable rich authentic learning experiences for your staff about other cultures.Our facilitators all come from a diverse range of backgrounds and can speak authentically as educators, parents and community leaders of CALD backgrounds.

PRIORITY AREAS

CULTURAL CAPABILITY

Cultural capability is about recognising that we are not all the same, that we come from different backgrounds and may have different things that are important to us. These things are not always obvious or visible. It requires us to strengthen our understanding of each other, make engagements meaningful, develop authentic relationships and build real partnerships with ākonga, whānau and communities. As educators it’s about allowing for diversity of thought and perspective in the classroom whilst enabling a shared sense of togetherness in a way that doesn’t marginalise difference.

The cultural diversity of New Zealand is constantly increasing. In 2018, more than a quarter (27.4 percent) of NZ residents were born overseas. The NZ Curriculum recognises the importance of cultural diversity and inclusion but is also underpinned by a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As we move forward as a country and as an education sector it is critical that we are able to cater for this growing diversity whilst honouring and upholding the principles of Te Tiriti. Flourish professionals are committed to supporting the sector in this area.

Flourish PLD can tailor a bespoke programme around your school needs. You may also like to co-design a programme of support with us around one of our core packages. Our current packages under Cultural Capability are:

Understanding Muslim ākonga and whānau
Engaging CALD communities
Creating welcoming inclusive schools where we all belong

We are continuously adding and refining our range of PLD packages in this priority area. Please check back soon for ongoing updates.

LOCAL CURRICULUM DESIGN

Local curriculum should reflect and respond to your school’s local community context, aspirations and demographics. Flourish facilitators can help you to design and develop learning opportunities within the framework of the NZ curriculum that:

Reflect CALD communities: students can see themselves in the local curriculum.
Align with the NZ curriculum refresh.
Incorporate CALD community engagement – whānau voice and feedback is fed into your local curriculum.
Connect with relevant local community led initiatives by community and NGO sector.

Integrating social cohesion learning across the curriculum
Celebrating cultural diversity and inclusion – developing a whole school approach – (unity week)
Taking learning outside the classroom – authentic learning experiences about other cultures

Interested to learn more?

Book a free, no-obligation consultation with our team today and discover how Flourish PLD can support your school in creating a more inclusive and culturally responsive environment for all students.

Send an email to: pld@flourish.ac.nz