Schools must stop "side stepping" Maori topics
te-pati-maori
Thu Jun 03 2010 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Schools must stop “side stepping” Maori topics
Thursday, 3 June 2010, 10:48 am
Press Release: The Maori Party
Schools must stop “side stepping” Maori topics
Secondary schools in Aotearoa must stop “side-stepping” Maori topics in their history classes, Maori Party education spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell said.
“I was shocked to learn how so many schools are going out of their way to avoid teaching Maori topics.
"Learning about the history of Aotearoa - and the unique knowledge and cultural heritage of our indigenous peoples - is fundamental to the effective education of all New Zealanders.
"As a former teacher myself, I know that confronting our colonial history and understanding the background to the relationship between Maori and Pakeha is a small step towards a better nation.
"We must be brave enough to learn more about Maori leadership throughout the centuries, the relationships between Treaty partners and the various challenges and injustices that have occurred over time. It is only through having such knowledge that we can, indeed, 'heal our history' and move forward as a nation."
Mr Flavell said the thesis by Dr Richard Manning of University of Canterbury titled Place, Power and Pedagogy revealed very disturbing statistics, which stem from a survey he did (of 24 schools in Wellington/Hutt Valley) and another survey carried out by the New Zealand History Teachers’ Association (of 126 schools throughout the country).
* Only 29% of the 24 Wellington/Hutt Valley schools and 23% of the 126 schools offered the NCEA Level 1 topic Maori and Pākehā Race Relations (1912-1980).
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* Only 3% of the 126 schools taught NCEA Level 1 Maori history topics.
* 93% of the 126 schools avoided the NCEA Level 2 topic Maori Leadership in the 19th Century, while 87% of the 24 Wellington/Hutt Valley schools avoided it.
* No schools were teaching the newly introduced Maori history topics that the Ministry of Education had added to the appendices to the NCEA Level 2 History Achievement Standards (2002).
* Only 40% of the 126 schools offered the 19th Century New Zealand option but that 58% of them taught the Tudor/Stuart England (1557-1665) option while 2% offered students a “choice” of topic in NCEA Level 3: The NZHTA survey revealed that only. Of the Wellington/Hutt Valley schools, 46% of schools preferred the Tudor/Stuart topic and an identical number offered the New Zealand topic.
* 29% of the Wellington/Hutt Valley schools he surveyed avoided teaching a topic that focused exclusively on Maori content in any of their NCEA level 1-3 courses.
Mr Flavell planned to talk with the Minister of Education about what he viewed as the failure of schools and educators to deliver a fully rounded education for Aotearoa.
ENDS
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