RTLB perspective on supporting refugee and migrant ākonga in central Auckland

By Education Gazette editors

Issue: Volume 104, Number 6

Posted: 12 June 2025

Reference #: 1HAnrg

Olivia Tinkler, a resource teacher learning & behaviour (RTLB) working across Mount Roskill, Auckland, shares her inquiry into how schools can better support refugee- background and migrant ākonga – and how building belonging beyond the classroom can strengthen engagement, wellbeing and whānau connection.

Auckland is home to Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest population of refugee-background whānau

In recent years, central Auckland schools have faced increasing pressure to support a growing number of linguistically and culturally diverse students, driven by a post-pandemic surge in international migration. The region is also home to Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest population of refugee-background whānau, a demographic that continues to grow.

As many of the schools I work in have a high proportion of refugee-background ākonga, I attended a professional development course run by Refugees as Survivors New Zealand (RASNZ) on how schools can better welcome refugee students.

This experience sparked a deeper interest in how schools support refugee-background and migrant ākonga; what barriers and enablers exist, and what opportunities might help school communities navigate this journey more effectively.

Understanding the barriers and opportunities

The first stage of my inquiry involved a literature review, where I gathered and compared a range of published sources and identified common themes.

I came across a report highlighting Auckland schools that had been noted for being responsive to culturally and linguistically diverse learners (Education Review Office, 2018) and realised several of the schools named in the report were ones I worked closely with.

To gain a clearer understanding of effective practices within these schools, I collected a range of perspectives from teachers and SENCo across the cluster on the barriers and enablers to engagement for refugee and migrant ākonga.

This second stage of the inquiry involved collecting practitioner insights through anonymous surveys completed by staff in several of the schools I support, as well as conducting a more in- depth interview with a SENCo from a school with a high proportion of migrant and refugee- background students.

As I gathered these perspectives, I recognised the importance of including a viewpoint from outside the school system. I reached out to Te Āhuru Mōwai o Aotearoa – the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre (MRRC), and spent a day with children and teaching staff, interviewing educators with over 20 years of experience supporting this unique community.

This was very valuable information, because it gave me a clearer understanding of the needs of the refugee-background community and the importance of trauma-informed practice for educators when working alongside them.

Creating tools for connection and belonging

Analysis of the data from all sources revealed several consistent barriers to engagement for refugee-background and migrant students: language, cultural differences, home-school communication, and the effects of trauma.

It also became apparent that families often lacked knowledge of the New Zealand school system and of the local support services available to them – gaps that were contributing to a sense of disconnection, isolation and a barrier to engagement.

In response to these needs, I designed two resources to be given to whānau.
One was a graphic to explain the New Zealand school system in more detail as this is something that many families find confusing, especially if they have had little experience of formal schooling themselves.

The second resource was a brochure listing local agencies and support services of specific interest to refugee-background whānau.

Olivia Tinkler

Through my RTLB colleagues I was able to connect with a parent education course that was being run specifically for refugee-background whānau within the Mount Roskill area. I was able to share early drafts of the resource with them and check that the various translations into their home languages were accurate.

These parents provided thoughtful and generous feedback, which resulted in the inclusion of items in the directory that I had not initially considered. The authenticity of the resource is a direct result of their valuable contributions.

Belonging as a foundation for success

A key theme that resonated with me throughout this project was that belonging is crucial to engagement and success.

Learners who felt connected to their home culture while integrating into their new communities had better outcomes, as did their families (Mitchell et al., 2020).

Providing whānau with opportunities to connect with others from similar backgrounds was a key part of my project, so I expanded my research into local cultural societies and community groups that would support new residents to find their new ‘village’.

Although I originally intended this poiesis to focus on home-school communication, the project organically evolved to take a wider view of this issue and attempt to improve links between home and school by grounding new whānau in their new environment.

By improving their connections to the rohe and to other whānau and neighbours, my hope is that these resources will contribute to an increased sense of belonging for both refugee-background ākonga and their families.