Abstract:
My research aims to understand trauma-informed practices in the Aotearoa Education context. I engage a qualitative and constructivist case study approach to explore TIPs in school-based mental health education. My research examines Mitey, a Māori-informed approach to mental
health education in Aotearoa primary schools. I engage Pihama et al.’s (2020) Māori approaches
to trauma-informed principles to develop a theoretical framework for trauma-informed practices
in Aotearoa’s educator sector. Using this framework to understand where trauma-informed
practices are currently manifest, I review a total of 39 subunits across the four Mitey Unit Plans,
and six fact sheets. Additionally, I conduct arts-informed semi-structured interviews with two
students aged 10 and 11. My research concludes that although Mitey was not specifically designed
with TIPs in mind, there are trauma-informed practices weaved throughout the Mitey content and
instructions. My research presents some opportunities for Mitey to further embody trauma-informed
practices more intentionally and consistently across its content and instructional ethos.
