I observed so many creative, positive ways in which school sites and educators (and other students!) supported students who were in need.
Examples include:
Free transportation provided to and from school
Advice around paying debts, interest, what to repay first
Petrol money schemes to improve attendance
Driving lessons on-site
Here are two short anecdotes that I observed which encapsulate this:
A young mother returns from a school visit for her child who is soon entering Year 1. She has been given a used uniform to start her off, but the pants have a hole. The lead teacher, without flinching, says, “Well, now is a great time for you to learn how to sew.” She pulls out a needle and thread and teaches the student on the spot.
Another young mother is finally moving into her own place. She has no whānau support and limited funds, and no experience navigating how to secure necessary utilities. A teacher supports her to compare gas prices with different companies, while another secures donations and a date to visit the Salvation Army. The students bring in different things she might need, and another volunteers to drive her things over during the lunch break on moving day.
Be creative to remove barriers.
In my opinion, this is the most important factor in academic engagement in Alternative Education spaces. Almost all students in these settings have had negative schooling experiences. If the work isn’t at the right level, they will automatically disengage. The matrix provided in the Positive Youth Development handbook (Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, 2025, pg. 41) below shows this clearly.
However, this matrix also shows that challenge is directly connected with support – built through relationships and trust. Productive struggle requires a great deal of vulnerability on the part of the student. Teachers have to really know their students – as noted by this teacher quote:
“It’s also about reading the students body language, learning the things they do and say when they don’t understand. It’s easy for them to pretend they understand when they don’t.”
Creating appropriate challenge is not easy. As Hattie says:
“While challenge is one of the core ingredients of effective learning, the art is making the challenge appropriate to the student” (Hattie, 2012, pg. 42).
Within the AE setting, with the lack of consistent diagnostics, student information, and gaps in schooling, finding the right level is even more complex and requires some creativity, as well as trial and error.
Meet students where they are, while providing challenge.
One thing that really struck me upon entering many AE spaces in Aotearoa was the focus on fostering student independence and agency, while scaffolding supports as needed.
“Agency is a term to describe people’s ability to have control over their own lives... working in an empowering and respectful way involves ‘giving’ power to others. An example is giving young people a meaningful say into decisions that affect them” (Wayne Francis Charitable Foundation, 2025, pg. 42).
Examples include:
Surveying students to get their opinions on scheduling and needs within the school environment
Daily schedules that allowed students’ choice and autonomy in what to work on and when, with systems in place to monitor them
Supports with becoming an adult IRL
Students really saw this agency as a huge benefit when compared with their time in traditional settings, as described in these quotes:
“At high school, it’s different, but when you’re here, it’s like you’ll come out of mum mode, you know? You’re not ready to jump back and forth and go from task to task ... We need stability and ... finishing [tasks] you actually feel as sense of accomplishment.”
“I think being able to come in and work at your own pace...most of the time you get to choose what you to work on ... and I think that’s really good. I think it takes off a lot of pressure of being stuck in this … I don’t know [rat race].”
Teachers were also well-aware of the importance of scaffolding independence:
“When students are gaining confidence, it’s about teaching students to work on their learning independently and effectively. This takes time but it is so worth it. When a student can complete their work on their own and is successful they get confidence to keep going and they will be better able to transfer that knowledge to other subjects or life situations.”
Foster independence and promote agency.
There is a great deal of research about the background knowledge and schema that students from marginalized communities bring to the classroom – and the gaps. In a Westernized school system, the background knowledge and schema expected of students will undoubtedly differ from that of an Indigenous or culturally diverse lens.
As Cummins notes, identity work and academic achievement can be enhanced simultaneously when using 3 components of effective instruction:
“(1) scaffolding meaning...by expanding modalities, (2) activating and building students’ background knowledge, and (3) extending students’ knowledge of academic language” (Cummins et al., 2015, pg. 559).
Cultivating and activating background knowledge builds academic confidence in students, as noted by this student who attends a church-based literacy program:
“If we are learning about a subject [in school], and I’ve already learned about it here, it feels good.”
I observed the use of thematic, interdisciplinary units as a method of guided schema development. In this case, teachers had created a robust, term-long unit plan in which different subjects were interwoven and related to each other — see photo artifacts below. Within the term theme of ‘problem solving,’ students would:
Study and hike the distance of the Southern Crossing
Learn problem solving strategies and apply them in reading and math
Complete a novel study about a natural disaster
Connect to the school values in explicit ways
This type of interdisciplinary unit allows students to build complex background knowledge and activate schema together as a group.
Cultivate background knowledge and activate schema.
In the brief time that I visited Alternative School settings in Aotearoa, I saw students participate in a huge range of special activities, including but not limited to:
Tough Guy/Girl competition
Gym sessions
Internships
Field trips
Hard skills training
Land based skills
Mountain biking
Other community partnerships
Just look at this artifact of one school’s weekly schedule! (See photo artifact below.)
Providing these types of activities allows for different ways for students to find their passions and cultivate a sense of belonging. As one educator says:
“I think the education outside the classroom, for me, you can totally bond. Those life skills are just as important as academic skills. What we're teaching them is to look after their well-being.”
Not having a singular focus on academics shows students that other aspects are valued as well.
As Berryman states,
“In positioning oneself within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy we must resist...unconsciously creating a hierarchy of success in which academic achievement is of most value” (Berryman et al., 2018, pg. 7).
This also links to cultivating background knowledge by providing diverse opportunities that students may not otherwise have experienced.
That being said, I did receive feedback from a student focus group that sometimes, there is too much disruption to their schedule due to participation in outside activities.
Furthermore, I did discuss with one school leader how it is important to vet incoming community partners to ensure that they are trauma-informed and will provide an experience that is worth missing out on routines and daily scheduled activities.
Broaden their worlds, valuing more than just academics.