The Christchurch City Council has set the bar high on how to create architectural award winning libraries & community centres.
What if Christchurch City Council also set the example for what happens inside?
What happens inside the library has more impact on our communities.
How? By creating Learning Libraries: citizen hubs where community education is the centre & the learning spaces are utilised by the Govt/CCC/Organisations as a central outreach to the residents in the surrounding communities.
Learning Libraries are ‘schools in the community for everyone, all ages & stages of life are welcome.’
“The Council is committed to supporting education as a lifelong learning process with resources for parents, teachers, students and
the public.” (https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/learning-resources)
“Christchurch City Libraries can help you explore new learning opportunities. Our librarians can offer assistance and show you key resources and our libraries provide spaces for you to access computers and study.” (https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/lifelong-learning/)
“The accessible physical space of the library is not the only factor that makes it work well as social infrastructure. The institution’s extensive programming, organized by a professional staff that upholds a principled commitment to openness and inclusivity, fosters social cohesion among clients who might otherwise keep to themselves…Why have so many public officials and civic leaders failed to recognize the value of libraries and their role in our social infrastructure? Perhaps it’s because the founding principle behind the library—that all people deserve free, open access to our shared culture and heritage, which they can use to any end they see fit—is out of sync with the market logic that dominates our time…Their core mission is to help people elevate themselves and improve their situation. Libraries do this, principally, by providing free access to the widest possible variety of cultural materials to people of all ages, from all ethnicities and groups.”
“Palaces for the People” By Eric Klinenberg, https://christchurch.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1056368037
Shirley Centre: Identity | Well-being | Learning
Community Education & Support Services in Learning Libraries
“Wide variations in teaching across early childhood education and schools – sometimes within the same school – amounted to a “systemic failure” which meant too few students acquired the basic literacy skills they needed to live a healthy and engaged life…Unequal access to “high-quality interventions” for struggling students compounded the problem, along with disagreement in the sector about “what constituted effective literacy instruction”, the literature review said.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/128083461/systemic-failure-in-the-way-children-taught-to-read-and-write-in-nz
“What are some problems? It takes far too long to access support, and when you do get it, there is not enough of it, and it’s not quite right. If you have a teen who is suicidal, that is urgent. To ring up and hear “it’s not bad enough” sends the message that the person has to increase harm to themselves in order to be seen as truly in need.”
“For those who manage to hold things together until they see someone, and then by some miracle be accepted into the service – the help can be sporadic, not a good fit, and often medication is given instead of other treatments which may be more effective.”
“While the skilled individuals working at the coalface do their utmost to provide help to the most needy, the system creates barriers. The model itself is built on the idea that mental illness occurs “within” a young person, and therefore treatment is directed at them and not their environments, such as home and school.”
“Sometimes, services are denied because “it’s behavioural”, or “it’s the result of trauma” – as though these preclude mental illness, rather than being part of the constellation of difficulty. What we know is that the very environmental and economic disparities that lead to poorer mental health also prevent access to good treatment.”
“Families are desperate. If we are going to provide high-quality care through our public system then our model of mental illness needs to change. Wellbeing is not individual, it occurs within family, hapū, community, schools and neighbourhoods, and develops over generations. Children develop well, and respond well to treatment, when their whānau are involved and listened to, when
they are well-resourced and when they have choice and control.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/128205045/its-time-to-rethink-our-mental-health-system–especially-for-children
“Bipolar is a life-long mental health illness marked by depressive and manic episodes. One in every 20 New Zealanders suffer from bipolar disorder in their lifetime; one in 100 with a severe form of the illness. Medication and access to professional mental health care was “key” in helping a person with bipolar…bipolar was a very complex illness, and for both the person suffering it and their
family it could be “very isolating.””
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/128198343/christchurch-man-donates-500000-to-bipolar-research-in-memory-of-his-wife
“There’s much more to hauora than being physically fit – our wellbeing is also affected by our mental and spiritual health, the strength of our whānau and our relationship with te taiao. Te Whare Tapa Whā [https://bit.ly/3vNnqPB] describes health as a wharenui with foundations and four walls each representing an area that contributes to our wellbeing. We can use this to check in with ourselves or to find out where we need to strengthen.” https://www.takai.nz/
Te Ao Māori grounding for wellbeing mahi: “If we had a consistent model that they started in Year 1, and see other students all using the same language or the same information, they could leave us as young adults having a good understanding of their wellbeing and how to manage it.” Karla Morton, Head of Mathematics, Ellesmere College
“My Year 6 class understand what wellbeing is now, whereas before it was just a word we’ve talked about a lot. Te Whare Mauri Ora is all new language, but the children understand how it links with their lives and the school values and to what happens each day.” Nicole Thornton, WST, Southbridge School
“This year the kāhui ako team is delivering a programme developed by Wiremu Gray called Te Waka Mauri Ora and it’s a journey of resilience. The Waka programme aligns with the concepts of Te Whare Mauri Ora. The kāhui ako team customised the programme with Wiremu to develop the appropriate language to suit all age ranges.”
“We’ve come through this journey to get to this point, everybody can see the benefits and we all know the benefits might not be here on Thursday. It might be when the students are much older that they are able to manage their wellbeing. Whenever it is, I think that’s a massive, massive outcome.” Karla Morton, Head of Mathematics, Ellesmere College
“Wiremu Gray is a counsellor dedicated to young people and he’s humbled by the impact his bicultural wellbeing model Te Whare Mauri Ora has had in schools. His whakapapa is Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou…In 2017 he developed his own wellbeing model based on Te Whare Tapa Whā, PERMA V, 5 ways to wellbeing, and his lived experience…Te Whare Mauri Ora incorporates health and wellbeing but also factors in mātauranga on Te Ao Māori, Māori knowledge, world views, tikanga and Māori beliefs and cultural narratives…It values the mana, gives it a New Zealand flavour, and is bicultural.”
https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/te-ao-maori-grounding-for-wellbeing-mahi/
“People who have lived most of their life being the minority have most likely often felt ostracised; they will be looking to feel safe every time they join a new group. What they see and hear in the first five minutes will either make them feel safe or trigger barriers to protect themselves. To improve outcomes for learners of all backgrounds, research shows you should create culturally responsive learning environments that focus on inclusion and equity.”
https://techenabledlearning.nz/guides/culturally-inclusive-classrooms/
“Life is Inclusion. The way we talk, the language that we use, what we do to help others, how & what we teach, the words we use daily, the way we connect & help others belong, the barriers we break down, the infrastructure we create, the partnerships & communities we build. Inclusion is life.” https://www.diversitykids.com.au
We can’t keep waiting for a new building to be built, because what could happen inside this building, is needed now: a citizen hub for community connections, community directory, sharing resources, promoting activities/events/organisations, community education…So instead of waiting for a ‘physical’ building to be built, we are creating an online community first, to connect communities around Shirley Road: Shirley, Dallington, Richmond, Edgeware, St Albans & Mairehau.
“Shirley Road Central” | https://www.shirleyroadcentral.nz/
– Directory: https://www.shirleyroadcentral.nz/src-directory/
– Activities: https://www.shirleyroadcentral.nz/src-activities/
– Support Services: https://www.shirleyroadcentral.nz/src-support-services/
– Why ‘Shirley Road Central’?: https://www.shirleyroadcentral.nz/shirley-road-central/
– Shirley Road Central | Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/shirleyroadcentral/ (online directory & community education)
– Shirley Road Central | Facebook Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/shirleyroadcentral/ (online noticeboard & community discussions)