Ākonga (students), kaiako (teachers) and whānau (family) learning together.

Ako is learning.

Throughout the three years of the programme, the value of ākonga, kaiako and whānau learning together has been evident. Very rarely do kaiako have the opportunity to undertake their professional learning alongside their ākonga. Together, the class returned to school with shared knowledge and understandings, and professional learning was more likely to be implemented immediately. Ākonga become proficient with the digital technologies and kaiako have a stronger understanding of the revised technology learning area and a deeper understanding of the pedagogy of teaching with digital technologies. The richness of the museum taonga adds an authentic context to the programme.

Whanau learning as part of the process, has seen many different outcomes. They learn with the class and take the learning back to their wider family to share. An example of this was in Northland, where whānau used digital tools to capture digital stories from kaumatua. After participating in the Hawke's Bay programme, whānau from different kura are working together to apply for iwi funding to develop an app that will be designed by them and their tamariki. When learning alongside their ākonga and kaiako, whānau have an understanding of how their ākonga are learning in the classroom, and kaiako have opportunities to understand more about whānau aspirations for their tamariki. The ākonga see the people they generally spend the most time with – whānau and kaiako – interacting across two days. During 2021, we will be exploring more about the impact of this three-way learning partnership.