Ironically, tomorrow Maori "celebrate" Waitangi Day and yet...our people and our children continue to be over-represented in statistics that show that they face barriers to accessing quality education.
Waitangi Day "celebrates" the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi on 6 February 1840.
An agreement signed between representatives of the British Crown and more than 500 Māori chiefs.
British Crown versus Māori
Tomorrow is 6 February 2023
183 years
Despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and all the plethora of research into best practices for teaching and learning for Māori.
Our NZ education system fails far too many Māori. A select few will be successful.
It is well known that Māori students as a group spend less time in the education system, and do less well in it, than non-Māori students as a group.
This is what we are up against - an education system that is not prepared to admit systemic racism
I am a Child Education Advocate.
I have been working with whanau to break down barriers that make it so hard for our children to go to school, feel they belong and are safe.
I have been working with parents to enable them to be active participants in their children's education
This is the journey of one mother that I am supporting that I feel I need to share with you all so that you know just what whanau face when they are up against the NZ education system.
I could share many others but this journey is the journey that many Maori face and it has to stop
I wrote an email to the Ministry of Education and to others to raise awareness.
I am raising awareness to the PACES Connection Community so that they understand the barriers Maori face accessing quality education
There are a select few Maori who does succeed
Sadly, many of us face barriers with limited knowledge of our rights and what we can do
We are often left to struggle alone
My post is to honour them
On Waitangi Day
I will honour those who struggle alone, both Māori and non-Māori
And I will continue to work with them
For parents to be active participants in their children's education
And for children to access quality education in schools that embrace them as individuals and create inclusive, safe school environments for ALL
We need change for Maori
For one and for many
What is done to one is done to many
I have requested your assistance
You have been informed
Yet we wait
I have included a number of people in my email to ensure transparency and accountability and to raise awareness
I am advocating for whanau living in the Hawkes Bay rohe.
A mother has been trespassed from her child's school denying her the right to be an active participant in her child's education on grounds that are unreasonable.
The mother and child are Maori.
The child is aged 8 is working at expectations in literacy and numeracy.
The child needs to learn how to manage his behaviour and the school needs to have the capacity to support the child with learning how to manage his behaviour.
The school needs to teach the child the key competencies in a way that is meaningful to the child
The school has the support of the MoE behaviour team
Note: The child has the potential to excel as he is working at expectations in literacy and numeracy. His ability to achieve his full potential would be in the Key Competencies that schools have an obligation and responsibility to teach all children: About the key competencies
Key competencies are the capabilities people have, and need to develop, to live and learn today and in the future.
The New Zealand Curriculum identifies five key competencies:
- Thinking
- Relating to others
- Using language, symbols, and texts
- Managing self
- Participating and contributing
The child has been on the MoE behaviour team caseload for over a year.
The MoE and the school had ample time to build the school's capacity to cater for the needs of the child
The whanau-school relationship broke down when the whanau asked for their child to extend hours to full-time.
Whanau and the child believed that they were successfully integrated into the school
The child wanted to be like his peers and wanted to go to school full-time like his peers.
This is quite reasonable to expect especially when reports to whanau and the child were that he was doing ok.
However, when the mother approached the school and the MoE she faced resistance.
The mother repeatedly asked for her child to attend school full-time.
The school with the support of the MoE continued to be resistant and rigid
The mother felt disregarded and ignored. Unseen and unheard.
And like many people who are disregarded, ignored and facing resistance and barriers from their school, she raised her voice in anger. And yes, one would expect she would have ranted.
This is what many do to be heard.
The mother just wanted her son to go to school full-time just like all his peers because that is what her son wanted and it was a reasonable expectation.
His mother wanted to ensure that the school would not target her son as they had targeted her and she wanted to know that she could go onto the school grounds to support her son as a parent should have the right to do
Effectively, the mother wanted to be an active participant in her son's education
The principal then went to the police based on the comments of the MoE employee
The Police then verbally informed the mother by phone. The mother was told she trespassed from the school and that she would be arrested if she went onto the school grounds.
That happened last year
The Police supposedly delivered the trespass notice in the letterbox.
The mother thought it was unlawful. She checked with the area commander of the police who told her it was lawful.
It appears that the police followed the process correctly.
However, the fact that the school used the Police is of concern especially when we all know that using the Police to intervene with Maori causes friction and triggers past hurt.
The school could have served a trespass notice without involving the Police
Involving the Police aggravated the situation and was seen by whanau as a breach in their relationship and a breach of trust. That is reasonable.
The mother then lost trust in the school and MoE which is reasonable.
When one is served a trespass notice one feels animosity not collegial
A trespass notice does not build a trusting, positive relationship
MoE arranged mediation.
Whanau had never been through a mediation process and was not prepared for mediation.
Again whanau was done to, not with
The MoE and teachers should understand the adage "done to, done with"
For clarity -
"Done to" means people are told what is best for them = power imbalance = inequity
"Done with" means people are working with you = power balance = equity
Understandably, mediation did not work.
I then get involved and request a transition meeting to ensure the child starts school on the first day with all his peers so that he feels included.
I clearly informed all involved that the first two weeks of school are extremely important as it is the time when the classroom teacher gets to know the children and builds the classroom culture of unity and belonging.
The first two weeks are the time for the teacher to establish rules, and expectations WITH the students to ensure the safety and well-being of all in the class.
To set the class culture up for a successful year
The Board and the MoE offered to meet BUT they refused to remove the one thing that caused all the mistrust and bad feelings - the trespass notice
The mother got advice not to send her child to school to wait until the conflict was resolved for the safety of herself and her son.
So whilst all the adults are scrambling to resolve the conflict
The best interests of the child have been disregarded and ignored because the child cannot go to school just like his peers
The child just wants to go to school and be safe and feel that he belongs
And that his mother can be by his side because she is his mother and that her place
To stand with her son, to encourage him to attend school and get an education
So the child could not start school when all the other children started - a big knock on his self-concept, thereby fuelling his mother to get it sorted with more urgency.
The mother gets more and more anxious the longer she has to wait to get her son into school because of the pressures from knowing her son wants to go to school and she continually faces barriers
This is extremely emotionally draining on the mother, her son and the whole whanau.
It lasts 24/7 and it is extremely harmful for the individual and collective well-being of all involved
I then requested that the mother and son attend the school powhiri so that they would become part of the school whanau.
That is on 8 February
The child needs to be prepared for that Powhiri - so he needs to be able to go to school on the 7 February
And now we wait
Whanau, Child and I wait for common sense to prevail
And as we wait more people have to get involved and it becomes more complicated
This really has been made more complicated than it has to be.
I have to place the blame on the Board and MoE for failing to implement their knowledge of best practices.
This is why whanau and children disengage from school and education
This treatment is what we as Maori face all the time and it has to stop
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care can't make it stop
The Ombudsman can't make it stop
The Human Rights Commission can't make it stop
The Ministry of People with a Disability can't make it stop
The Children's Commission can't make it stop
Iona as Secretary of Education, won't step in
Today, I am making you aware of what whanau and I face without funding and without the knowledge that you all collectively hold
And without the power and control that you hold individually and collectively
WHO IS GOING TO HELP THIS CHILD AND MOTHER ATTEND THE SCHOOL POWHIRI ON 8 FEBRUARY?
Wider concerns
This is not isolated to this child and whanau
I know that this area serviced by the Napier Ministry of Education office is highly represented by Maori and there are many more Maori who has been penalised and denied access to quality education
A request Iona,
Can you please set up an independent inquiry into this and into the education of Maori in the area serviced by the Napier MoE office?
Can whanau and I be active participants in the selection of the investigator this time?
Last time. whanau was disregarded in the selection process - the investigation became one-sided.
For this whanau please ensure their voice is heard.
We learn from the past
Only if we acknowledge and accept what we have done to others
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