Is education being “recolonised”?
Recent education policy decisions are being slammed by some educations as regressive, recolonising and anti-Māori.
Education leaders are characterising the Government’s recent suite of education policies, including the new draft curriculum and removing the requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi, as a “recolonisation” campaign.
The term “recolonisation” was coined by African scholars in the late 20th century; it refers to the process through which colonising powers – usually within former colonies that are now independent nations – recreate conditions that existed under direct colonial rule.
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In a paper released earlier this year, Dr Therese Ford and Bruce Jepsen of Te Akatea Incorporated, the national body for Māori principals and school leaders, argued the national curriculum was being “recolonised”. They used the work of the late New Zealand scholar Dame Evelyn Stokes, who described colonisation as a process of three distinct stages. They argue the current curriculum changes, which exclude Mātauranga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi mirror the last stage of colonisation: consolidating immigrant settlement. The paper argues that education policies of the 20th century, such as English-only teaching, were aimed at reinforcing Crown power in New Zealand by devaluing indigenous culture, and draws parallels to the current treatment of Te Ao Māori in the draft curriculum documents.
Education Minister Erica Stanford’s recent announcements concerning the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, and removing the requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi have proven controversial, prompting increased backlash from the education community.
Bruce Jepsen, Chief Executive Officer of Te Akatea Inc., the national body for Māori principals and school leaders, has been an outspoken critic of recent education policies alongside other education leaders. In a recent interview with Dale Husband from Waatea News, Jepsen said that, when considered together, recent education policies present a concerted attack on te ao Māori.
Policies highlighted by Jepsen included: defunding Te Reo Māori language programmes for teachers; defunding Resource Teachers of Māori; the removal of equity and inclusion national education learning priorities; the decision to remove 27 junior readers containing Te Reo Māori and/or Māori contexts from English medium schools, where 97 percent of tamariki Māori are enrolled; and now the removal of Te Tiriti requirements for school boards.
Related School News article: Principals’ Federation calls on MoE to ‘codesign’ policy with education sector.
Jepsen also expressed worry that Te Tiriti would be removed from the professional standards for teachers given the Minister’s recent move to overhaul the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.
“When you remove Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Reo Māori, Māori history, and appropriate matauranga Māori at the scale that this minister has, Māori perspectives and knowledge become invisible in the classroom, the staffroom, and crucially now in the boardroom.”
Jepsen is not alone in his criticism of the Government, with Manukura | President of NZEI Te Riu Roa Ripeka Lessels calling the removal of the Te Tiriti requirement for school boards “a blatant and deliberate dismantling of the Treaty of Waitangi.”
Related School News article: Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Living the values
Jepsen said he spoke to those in the education sector daily, and that “thousands of leaders across the motu, both Māori and non-Māori” are worried about the direction of recent policy.
“The exclusion of Te Ao Māori from foundational learning perpetuates racism and inequity. Inequity is fundamentally an outcome of colonisation and racism. Racism is the result of a dominant governing group’s selective racial bias being backed by legal authority and institutional control, and this is exactly what we’re seeing play out in our education system…. in order to respond to inequity you actually have to see, listen and respond to the marginalised cultural group that has been less well served by colonial systems.
“[Stanford’s] statements about addressing inequity are contradictory. You cannot create equity by enforcing a one-structured framework that is exclusively drawn from a Eurocentric worldview.
“We’d like to see the Minister return to the original world-leading Te Mātaiaho that was developed through 2020 – 2022 that included sector wide engagement and expertise from Aotearoa.
“We’d also like to see regressive recolonising changes abandoned.”
Removing Te Tiriti o Waitangi requirement from school boards
The announcement that school boards would no longer be required to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been met with massive backlash from the education sector. The change to the Education and Training Act was put to Parliament last week without public consultation, angering many in the sector.
The requirement has been in place since 2020, and Minister of Education Erica Stanford said “it certainly didn’t make any difference” to student achievement.
Stanford defended the decision by saying there were other clear directives to school boards, including “You must work to raise Māori achievement and ensure equitable outcomes. You must teach Te Reo Māori in your school for those who ask for it, and you must be culturally competent to the needs of your students in the school.”
However, educators dispute this, saying that the Te Tiriti requirement has made a tangible difference for ākonga Māori.
Meredith Kennett, President of Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – New Zealand School Boards Association (NZBSA), spoke on behalf of their membership and stated that removing the clause undermines school boards as Crown entities, risks damaging social cohesion and has no clear benefit.
“As Crown entities, school boards absolutely have a responsibility to understand and give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” Kennett said.
“The suggestion that this clause makes no difference simply isn’t true. It has been the reason many board members came to fully understand their responsibilities as Crown representatives and, in turn, why many schools adjusted policies and procedures to better reflect the needs of whānau Māori and all New Zealanders.”
Kennett said the Treaty clause was both practical and unifying for schools.
“It causes no harm to have it there, but causes plenty of harm, including to social cohesion, by removing it.
“To understand attendance and achievement statistics for rangatahi Māori, you have to understand our history – and that includes Te Tiriti. That understanding leads to more practical, effective and inclusive school policies.”
President of the New Zealand Principals Federation, Leanne Otene, said that school boards had “enthusiastically embraced” the Te Tiriti clause, and that it was in line with international policies on indigenous cultures.
“What the Minister has done… is to take an extreme, far right position which is not compatible with where Aotearoa New Zealand society is headed.
“Countries like Australia, Canada, Ireland, Wales and Greenland look up to Aotearoa New Zealand schools as leaders in reviving indigenous language and culture, so this move puts us completely out of step as global leaders.
“Our school Boards are proud of the progress we have made as a nation, towards normalising biculturalism, as was the intention of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They have upheld their Tangata Tiriti obligations with respect and dignity for the betterment of our whole society.”
Otene encouraged school boards, as self-governing entities, to continue upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but expressed concern that without a legal mandate to honour Treaty obligations, Māori content would be sidelined.
“It’s through schools that the Government can ensure they’ve put in place their mechanisms by which to honour the treaty.
“Our tamariki Māori have a right to learn about their histories, hear their language and experience their culture. Effectively, state schools don’t have to observe that anymore and without a clear obligation, schools will be pressured by extremists to delete Māori from the curriculum in the school programmes.
“Without accountability, everything changes and the minister knows this.”
NZEI Te Riu Roa said the decision was “ideologically driven, not evidence-based” and part of an effort to downplay the Government’s responsibilities to tamariki Māori under Te Tiriti.
Manukura | President Ripeka Lessels called it “the latest in a series of racist, dogmatic attacks on our education system.
“For ākonga Māori, schools having strategies that give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is critical to engagement, attendance and achievement.
“A school board is a crucial part of creating a learning environment and its governance sets a tone. Learning environments are made through the interweaving of the actions of school boards and their strategic plans alongside the day-to-day activities of teaching and learning.”
Te Aomihia Taua-Glassie, Māori vice-President of PPTA Te Wehengarua called the move “shocking.
“The objective for boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi makes it clear, and in no uncertain terms, that schools must commit to achieving equitable outcomes for ākonga Māori. Our concern is that doing away with this objective it sends the message that this is less important than other areas that a board is responsible for.”
Taua-Glassie said the suddenness of the decision was “very concerning”, adding that the decision hinders the work done in education over the past 50 years to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori.
“In the words of Tā Hemi Henāre : Kua tawhiti kē tō haerenga mai Kia kore e haere tonu. He nui rawa ō mahi Kia kore i mahi tonu. You have come to far not to go further. You have done too much not to do more.
“Our tamariki and rangatahi deserve a better future and we will continue to fight for them.”
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Education leaders such as John Kendal, Principal of Rotorua Boys’ High School have publicly reiterated their commitment to Te Tiriti despite the removal of the clause. Kendal said the school had a longstanding relationship with the local iwi, and the campus stood on land gifted by the iwi.
Opposition leader and former Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the move was a “victory for Hobson’s Pledge… a step backwards for our education system.”
The fringe lobby group had put pressure on Stanford to remove the clause earlier this year.
Labour’s spokesperson for Education Willow-Jean Prime said the move was “government over-reach,” and criticised the lack of consultation.
Stanford’s decision did have support from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, however, who said removing the clause signalled to boards they should be “ruthlessly focused” on academic achievement.
Speaking in his capacity as the ACT Party Leader, David Seymour said the change was positive, as some believed there was too much Māori content in their children’s education.
“Under these changes school board will retain the choice to teach as much tikanga, mātauranga Māori, and te reo Māori as they like. However, the law won’t force them to, and that’s the difference. Self-determination should be for all New Zealanders… it is possible to respect and value the place of the Māori language and culture without artificially inserting it into every part of life.”
