The Minister Was Right: We Need Cultural Competency
te-pati-maori
Fri Oct 05 2012 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
The Minister Was Right: We Need Cultural Competency
Friday, 5 October 2012, 5:09 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
MEDIA STATEMENT
Te Ururoa Flavell
MP for Waiariki
Friday 5th October 2012
The Minister Was Right: We Need Cultural Competency in Schools
MP for Waiariki Te Ururoa Flavell has entered into the dispute between NZPPTA representatives and Education Minister Hekia Parata, about the pronunciation of children’s names and the teaching of New Zealand history.
“I absolutely stand by the Minister in speaking out about the institutional racism that still impacts on too many of our young people in schools” said Mr Flavell.
“Professor Russell Bishop and Dr Mere Berryman’s research (Te Kotahitanga) tells us that many Māori children feel excluded from education by the mispronunciation of their names, their cultures being ignored, or the language used in the classrooms”.
“Of course mispronunciation doesn’t just apply for tamariki Māori. Cultural competency is needed in every school so that every student knows that their teachers are making an effort to understand them and know them within their unique cultural contexts”.
“Robin Duff can describe the Minister’s comments as ‘dangerous’, ‘disappointing’, ‘patronising’ and ‘out of context and out of proportion’ but for many, many whānau, what Hekia said made absolute sense. It’s about respect and it’s about basic human communication – and until we get that right, we won’t make a difference”.
“I heard a case just this week where a whānau made a decision about their sons attending a new school, singularly on the fact that the school administrator pronounced their names correctly. Culture counts – and names matter”.
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“And as for Hekia’s statements around the teacher of New Zealand history, she’s spot on there too”.
“Two years ago I asked questions in the House about the lack of Māori perspectives in secondary school history”. (See Schools - History Curriculum)
“Research from Dr Richard Manning revealed that 71% of the 24 schools he surveyed ‘avoided’ the NCEA level 1 topic Māori and Pākehā, 1912-1980; while 77% of 126 schools surveyed by the New Zealand History Teachers Association ‘sidestepped it’”.
“The point that the Minister was making was that even if it’s in the curriculum it’s still not being taught – and that’s a huge concern for the Māori Party”.
“What we need is commitment at all levels to know that cultural competency matters”.
Background
• In 2011, the Māori Party announced $17 million would be invested over four years to allow an additional 20 schools to participate in the Te Kotahitanga teacher training programme – aimed at lifting Māori under-achievement.
• In August 2011 Dr Pita Sharples launched Tataiako – a resource to help teachers improve their cultural awareness and skills”.
ENDS
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