Education

The New Zealand Chinese experience is unique and important — the new history curriculum can’t ignore it

<h2>News of a revised New Zealand history curriculum was welcomed by many&comma; including me as an historian and someone who has worked closely with high schools and the education sector&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>In particular&comma; this seemed like an opportunity to extend the breadth of history taught&comma; including the important stories of Aotearoa’s migrant and refugee communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In its present form&comma; however&comma; the Ministry of Education’s history curriculum <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;education&period;govt&period;nz&sol;assets&sol;Documents&sol;Aotearoa-NZ-histories&sol;MOE-Aotearoa-NZ-Histories-A3-FINAL-020-1&period;pdf" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">consultation document<&sol;a> falls well short&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Allowing for the fact the draft curriculum proposal is meant as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;a framework” for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;setting directions” and not a detailed prescription&comma; aspects of it are nonetheless deeply worrying — not least the invisibility of the Chinese story&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;education&period;govt&period;nz&sol;our-work&sol;changes-in-education&sol;aotearoa-new-zealand-histories-in-our-national-curriculum&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">public consultation process&comma;<&sol;a> that ended on May 31&comma; it’s vital this gap is addressed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The other New Zealand stories<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The aim of history teaching should be to empower learners to think critically about the past&period; This equips them to understand the present and deal with the complexities of the future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>History is an interpretation of past events in as comprehensive and unbiased a way as possible&period; Sound history needs to have accuracy and integrity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Quite rightly&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;archives&period;govt&period;nz&sol;discover-our-stories&sol;the-treaty-of-waitangi" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Te Tiriti o Waitangi<&sol;a> as a founding document legitimising the relationship between M&amacr;ori and the Crown is central to the draft curriculum&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; there is little mention of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;maoridictionary&period;co&period;nz&sol;search&quest;idiom&equals;&amp&semi;phrase&equals;&amp&semi;proverb&equals;&amp&semi;loan&equals;&amp&semi;histLoanWords&equals;&amp&semi;keywords&equals;tauiwi" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">tauiwi<&sol;a>&comma; the many communities who have come to call Aotearoa home&comma; but who do not identify as M&amacr;ori or <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;maoridictionary&period;co&period;nz&sol;search&quest;keywords&equals;pakeha" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">P&amacr;keh&amacr;<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"align-center zoomable"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;1000&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" sizes&equals;"&lpar;min-width&colon; 1466px&rpar; 754px&comma; &lpar;max-width&colon; 599px&rpar; 100vw&comma; &lpar;min-width&colon; 600px&rpar; 600px&comma; 237px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;428&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 600w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;428&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1200w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;428&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 1800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;537&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 754w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;537&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1508w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402492&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-21-ohs4do&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;537&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 2262w" alt&equals;"" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption><span class&equals;"caption">Two Chinese gold miners seated in front of a stone cottage in Central Otago&comma; circa late 1860s&period;<&sol;span> <span class&equals;"attribution"><span class&equals;"source">Alexander Turnbull Library<&sol;span>&comma; <a class&equals;"license" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;creativecommons&period;org&sol;licenses&sol;by-sa&sol;4&period;0&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">CC BY-SA<&sol;a><&sol;span><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h2>The Chinese as &OpenCurlyQuote;other’<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>I write from the experience of researching and writing New Zealand Chinese history&period; The Chinese have been in Aotearoa New Zealand for close to 180 years and have never been part of the binary frame of colonisers and colonised&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They were itinerant workers brought to the Otago goldfields and subjected to a series of anti-Chinese laws from 1881 onwards&period; Since the Chinese were prevented from applying for naturalisation from 1908 onwards&comma; they could never be British subjects or be represented by the Crown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Neither P&amacr;keh&amacr; nor M&amacr;ori&comma; the Chinese are still labelled &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;teara&period;govt&period;nz&sol;en&sol;ethnic-and-religious-intolerance&sol;page-3" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">others<&sol;a>”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Relegated to the fringe of society&comma; they had no say in the nation’s policies and could not even expect the most basic rights&comma; from miners’ accident benefits and family reunion to health care&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p><em> <strong> Read more&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;teaching-chinese-politics-in-australia-polarised-views-leave-academics-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-157886" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Teaching Chinese politics in Australia&colon; polarised views leave academics between a rock and a hard place<&sol;a> <&sol;strong> <&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>They were the only ethnic group to pay a £100 poll tax for entry and had to be thumb printed on arrival and departure&period; Many of the arbitrary policies targeting Chinese were applied to local-born Chinese&comma; confirming they were about race&comma; not nationality&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Governor George Grey favoured New Zealand’s development as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;better Britain of the South Pacific” and successive New Zealand governments continued to build a white nation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Chinese immigration was strictly controlled by tonnage ratios&comma; quota systems&comma; poll taxes and an English test&period; From the 1860s to the 1950s&comma; the Chinese endured forced family separation in the interests of that unofficial white New Zealand policy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>A history of suspicion<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The reception and treatment of the Chinese as a community is an interesting social barometer of New Zealand as a whole&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the post WWII era of comparative plenty&comma; New Zealand accepted refugees and orphans from many parts of war-ravaged Europe&period; During <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;teara&period;govt&period;nz&sol;en&sol;chinese&sol;page-4" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">this period<&sol;a>&comma; a few hundred Chinese women and children who escaped the Japanese occupation of China in 1939-40 were allowed to stay in New Zealand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This modest group formed the nucleus of the Chinese New Zealand community&comma; and the Chinese finally became families instead of cohorts of bachelors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p><em> <strong> Read more&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;in-an-age-of-digital-disinformation-dropping-level-1-media-studies-in-nz-high-schools-is-a-big-mistake-151475" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">In an age of digital disinformation&comma; dropping level 1 media studies in NZ high schools is a big mistake<&sol;a> <&sol;strong> <&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>The arrival of the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;new Asians” after 1987 was a rude awakening for everyone concerned&period; They seemed a far cry from the low-key&comma; docile and polite local-born Chinese New Zealanders&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Auckland suburban newspapers splashed a sensational two-page story about &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;teara&period;govt&period;nz&sol;en&sol;ethnic-and-religious-intolerance&sol;page-5" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">The Inv-Asian<&sol;a>” in 1993&period; In 2006&comma; the magazine &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;for thinking New Zealanders”&comma; North &amp&semi; South&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nzherald&period;co&period;nz&sol;nz&sol;press-council-condemns-asian-angst-story&sol;UX5JDZEKBJOZ3E4N3NF4RMV2S4&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">featured a story<&sol;a> titled &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Asian Angst&colon; Is it time to send some back&quest;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"align-center "><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" sizes&equals;"&lpar;min-width&colon; 1466px&rpar; 754px&comma; &lpar;max-width&colon; 599px&rpar; 100vw&comma; &lpar;min-width&colon; 600px&rpar; 600px&comma; 237px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;400&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 600w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;400&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1200w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;400&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 1800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;503&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 754w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;503&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1508w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;402512&sol;original&sol;file-20210525-19-1vx2v1y&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;503&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 2262w" alt&equals;"Lanterns in band rotunda and people" &sol;><figcaption><span class&equals;"caption">Crowds flock to events such as the Chinese Lantern Festival in Auckland&comma; but most know little of the Chinese New Zealand experience&period;<&sol;span> <span class&equals;"attribution"><span class&equals;"source">www&period;shutterstock&period;com<&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h2>A curriculum for all New Zealanders<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The proposed curriculum risks continuing this unfortunate legacy of treating Chinese New Zealanders as perpetual migrants&comma; a label not applied to the British people who have settled in Aotearoa&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A sound history curriculum should ensure all New Zealand’s children see history as a truly relevant subject&period; It needs to be everybody’s story&period; The linkages of non-P&amacr;keh&amacr;&comma; non-M&amacr;ori history must be established within the national history framework&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p><em> <strong> Read more&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women<&sol;a> <&sol;strong> <&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>The relationship between the Chinese &lpar;as the most distinctive&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;undesirable” or &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;despised” immigrant group&rpar; and M&amacr;ori &lpar;as <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;maoridictionary&period;co&period;nz&sol;search&quest;keywords&equals;tangata&plus;whenua" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">tangata whenua<&sol;a>&rpar; is arguably the most essential relationship to tease out&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The draft curriculum proposal does not specifically recognise the diversity of New Zealand society in the past or present&period; Without significant and explicit guidance on the histories of the many diverse communities that call Aotearoa home&comma; the risk is they and their children will fail to see themselves in their country’s histories&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And that will make it all the harder to see themselves as an important part of their country’s future&period;<&excl;-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag&period; Please DO NOT REMOVE&period; --><img style&equals;"border&colon; none &excl;important&semi; box-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi; margin&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; max-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; max-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; opacity&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; outline&colon; none &excl;important&semi; padding&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; text-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;counter&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;content&sol;160782&sol;count&period;gif&quest;distributor&equals;republish-lightbox-basic" alt&equals;"The Conversation" width&equals;"1" height&equals;"1" &sol;><&excl;-- End of code&period; If you don't see any code above&comma; please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button&period; The page counter does not collect any personal data&period; More info&colon; https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;republishing-guidelines --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;profiles&sol;manying-ip-1229760" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Manying Ip<&sol;a>&comma; Emeritus Professor of Asian Studies&comma; <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;institutions&sol;university-of-auckland-1305" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">University of Auckland<&sol;a><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This article is republished from <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">The Conversation<&sol;a> under a Creative Commons license&period; Read the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;the-new-zealand-chinese-experience-is-unique-and-important-the-new-history-curriculum-cant-ignore-it-160782" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">original article<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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