Nevertheless, we persisted: supporting taiohi voice, agency and leadership on climate change in Porirua
By Conor Twyford, Wairere Pene, Orini Rokx-Taratu, Amanda Dobson, Michele Whiting
Published in New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, Volume 22 No.2 (2025)
Special topic - Children's rights and Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
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Article Abstract
In Aotearoa New Zealand, tamariki Māori (Māori children), Pacific children, and children born into poverty are among those most exposed to climate risk. Taiohi (young people) have a right not just to be treated as a vulnerable group in need of protection from its impacts, but as active agents in crafting solutions. Yet, with the exception of the recently released Health National Adaptation Plan, our national climate policies have to date lacked any reference to children’s rights, participation or leadership. Teaching critical literacy and cultural responsiveness, key to understanding issues of identity, values and perspectives, and the drivers of climate change, is simultaneously being rolled back.
In the face of these challenges, this article offers a story of hope. Drawing on a case study of a Tiriti (Treaty) based citizen’s climate assembly in Porirua city – the first of its kind in Aotearoa – we document our experience as a group of educators who came together, with little lead time and limited resources, to support and empower young people’s voice and agency in the Porirua Assembly process.
Drawing on early findings from the lead author’s doctoral research, we recount the challenges we encountered, actions we took, and the critical role of relationality, creative practice, and culturally congruent ways of working in empowering taiohi voice, agency and leadership. We conclude by considering what may be learnt from our experience to help inform future practice.
