Govt tosses education task force hospital pass
The members of the Independent Task Force to Review Tomorrow’s Schools were given a hospital pass by the Government. They were asked to do the impossible; review compulsory schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand with a focus on achieving a system that promotes equity and excellence for all children and young people . . . (and to give) active expression to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
What is of concern is the assumption that changing the education-system structure will promote equity and excellence. This has been the focus of many policies and projects since the 1960s. But equity of outcomes did not occur under the Education Board model (which is essentially what is promoted in this report) and remains so under Tomorrow’s Schools. So why look for solutions in something that did not work?
It is simply that there are no clear links between administrative systems and improvements in Ma¯ ori students’ achievement, which is what is needed to promote equity. Something else is needed other than this pendulum-swinging process of governance reform from political left to right, then back again.
There is no clear overarching educational theory in this report that can guide how educators should operate so as to promote equity, let alone give expression to Te Tiriti. However, it does suggest relationships are important. Our well-being and mental health rely on our developing positive and effective relationships, something few Ma¯ ori students report experiencing in schools.
However, this report does not give a clear steer as to what is meant by relationships. It can just mean singing Kumbaya and holding hands. Positive relationships are fundamental to teachers being able to do their job as educators, a major part of which is to reduce educational disparities, thereby promoting equity. What is needed is an explicit theory of positive relationships that promotes care and commitment, high expectations and improved and sustained educational outcomes.
Research shows developing schools and classrooms as if they are (extended) families provides educators with settings where Ma¯ ori students’ belonging, participation and individual learning is supported and developed. This sense of family-ness promotes a relationshipbased education that has much to offer teachers trying to support those marginalised from education’s benefits.
However, family-like relationships are not enough. Classrooms also need to be places of interaction and dialogue where students of different cultures can bring who they are, what they know and, above all, how they understand and make sense of the world to the conversations that generate learning.
The progress that learners are making can then be monitored and practices modified appropriately. In this way, further progress is ensured so learners can take responsibility for their learning; the foundations for ongoing learning.
Research has shown this type of approach improves educational outcomes for Ma¯ ori, not changing the ways schools are organised. It also gives active expression to Te Tiriti o Waitangi because it promotes the idea of partners in education (Article 1), acknowledging Ma¯ ori students’ distinctive differences (Article 2), in ways that promotes benefits for Ma¯ ori and all students (Article 3).
A relationship-based approach means that teachers and other school leaders can focus on improving learning. That Ma¯ ori students are not provided with this type of education is the root cause of the lack of equity in our system, not the type of administration.