Te Rito Toi helps teachers
reconnect
with and support children
when they return to
education
following a distressing,
traumatic event or experience.
AT THE HEART OF TE RITO TOI is the understanding that education needs to help learners make sense of the present and imagine better futures. After crises, when returning to education, the first priority is to help learners safely explore the changed world in which they live.
The stories, concerns and questions children have should be addressed in classrooms. Based on international research confirming the central role of the arts in meaning making and the renewing of hope, Te Rito Toi positions the arts at the centre of childrens’ return to education after crises.
Grounded in Papatūānuku, Te Rito Toi is at the centre and soul of healing. Even amongst the chaos of seasonal transitions, elemental effects and changes, the rito remains strong as the heart of the kōrari (harakeke).
~ Professor Peter O’Connor
Learn more about what we do here in this video ...
Te Rito Toi was developed by a team at the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation, led by Professor Peter O’Connor. With over twenty years of experience working in schools affected by crisis, Peter’s award-winning research explores how the arts can support children’s return to learning after trauma. This work is grounded in deep values of care, creativity, and community, and was supported by a dedicated team of artist educators and trauma-informed pedagogues at the Centre, including Christa Napier-Robertson, Emily Gibson and Katy Perez.
The arts are the bridge to a better future.
