Office of the Children’s Commissioner
[1] About Us: About the Office of the Children’s Commissioner [2] Advice: Education
Office of the Children’s Commissioner
The role of the Children’s Commissioner is to advocate for children and young people so that their rights are respected and upheld.
The website's page on education provides information to help people understand their rights and responsibilities, and what to do when things go wrong with regard to:
- school discipline processes
- bullying
- school enrolment schemes
- special education.
The article “ School for All” is based on a talk by Children’s Commissioner Dr. Janis Carroll-Lind on the concept of inclusive education, the commitments New Zealand has made to this goal, and the reality for students and their families and whānau. Katherine Rees co-presented and talked about her experiences as a student with a disability.
This series of video clips of a forum on bullying includes Dr. Carroll-Lind. It could serve as a prompt for discussing this sensitive topic and working out ways to deal with it for the good of all students.
Carroll-Lind, J., and Rees, K. (2009). “School for All: Children’s Right to an Inclusive Education in New Zealand”. Proceedings of the Making Inclusive Education Happen: Ideas for Sustainable Change Conference. Wellington: Te Papa.
| Relevance | Resources for further learning | Resources for taking action | Resources for learning about other people's stories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiry and knowledge-building | |||
| Leading change | |||
| Understanding autism spectrum disorder | |||
| Understanding inclusion | |||
| Effective schools | |||
| Special education and ASD in NZ school settings | Y | Y | |
| Audit | |||
| Building inclusive school cultures | Y | Y | |
| Producing inclusive school policies | Y | Y | |
| Evolving inclusive practices | Y | Y | |
| Managing transitions | |||
| Specific issues for secondary schools |