Arrived back in Australia on Thursday night after an excellent trip through New Zealand. We started our journey in Auckland and presented a seminar to 35 participants which was very successful. A question that arose out of this seminar was intringuing and worth evaluating. Do cultural differences affect the approach to behaviour and curriculum development? In this case the discussion centered around the Maori people and the dilemma that occurs within the community in relation to the importance of education and expected behaviours. How to get the families involved with the school if their children are experiencing problems academically or socially? The discussion also touched on the prevalence of child abuse within the community as a young 3 year old Maori girl was killed the week we were in Auckland. Her 17 year old step father as well as other members of the family have been charged.
The next seminar was in Wellington with 34 participants. Again I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received. I have never experienced hugs and kisses at the end of a seminar but this seemed to be the norm as I received more as the trip went on.
In Dunedin, 43 participants attended the seminar and 64 attended the seminar in Christchurch. A question that came out of the seminar in Christchurch centered around the feeling teachers have when they are discussing the medical aspects of a particular disorder and how they approach parents with this kind of information as they are n
ot doctors and feel they cannot cross over the line to recommend or discourage certain types of therapy or approaches. Any thoughts??
No comments:
Post a Comment