Ngā Haeata Mātauranga: Annual Report on Māori Education 2001/02 and Direction for 2003 Publications
Publication Details
This annual report provides an overview of Maori education, from early childhood to the tertiary sector. It includes initiatives specifically directed to Maori, those focusing on te reo Maori and Maori immersion education, and also initiatives that are intended to support Maori students as part of broader education strategies aimed at raising their achievement. Statistical analysis is also included.
Author(s): Ministry of Education.
Date Published: January 2003
Executive Summary
Ngā Haeata Mātauranga provides an overview of Māori education from early childhood to the tertiary sector mainly in 2001/02. Many of the initiatives reported here are specifically designed for Māori such as focusing on te reo Māori and Māori immersion education. Many other initiatives support Māori students as part of broader education strategies to raise participation and achievement.
The Ministry's direction continues to be informed by the Government's outcomes and targets for Māori education (see Appendix 1), the strategic work arising from Hui Taumata and associated regional consultations with iwi and Māori throughout the country and the growing number of partnerships that support and strengthen the role of Māori in education.
The main focus of Ngā Haeata Mātauranga is describing what is happening in the education system for Māori. Information is reported across eight key areas where the Ministry is working to support Māori participation and achievement in education (sections 2 - 9). For the first time, this year's report includes a short reader survey at the back. We want to make our annual reports as informative, interesting and useful as possible. To help us review and improve Ngā Haeata Mātauranga, you are urged to take a few minutes to answer the survey. Your feedback is valued!
Section 2: Increasing Participation in Early Childhood Education
Raising Māori participation in early childhood education continues to be a crucial Government outcome for Māori education. Key priorities are to increase participation in quality early childhood education in both English and Māori language settings and to have more qualified early childhood education teachers. Initiatives include work to overcome barriers to participation, teacher recruitment and training, enhancing the relationship with Te Köhanga Reo National Trust, support for early childhood services and parenting programmes for Māori parents and whānau. Case study 1 shows the benefits of a programme to improve the participation rates of Māori children in early childhood education. Case study 2 looks at Whānau Toko i te Ora, a programme to improve positive parenting skills and learning and development opportunities for children.
Section 3: Better Teaching for Māori Students
The Ministry continues its strong focus on raising the overall quality of education provision for Māori, with specific emphasis on raising the quality of teaching. Over 85 percent of Māori students are educated in the general school system.
Increasing attention is being devoted to the development and application of assessment tools and processes that track Māori student achievement. More achievement data is available including new information from the National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Case study 3 reports on gains for Māori students in maths, due to the Numeracy Development Project, which supports teachers' professional development in numeracy.
Case study 4 looks at Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga, a school that shows the impressive standards and high educational goals that can be achieved by a low decile school.
Section 4: Smarter use of the Resources Available to Māori Learners
A range of resources support Māori students including information and communications technology, financial assistance for Māori students, study support centres, suspensions reduction initiatives and special education funding. These all contribute to addressing Māori students' overall education needs but with a particular focus on ensuring the basic foundations of learning, improving access to education, increasing participation and retention in senior secondary school, and raising educational achievement.
Case study 5 is about He Ara Tika, a mentoring initiative for Māori secondary students, and case study 6 is about Gateway, helping students make the transition to work and further training. These show how the effective use of resources can make a significant difference to Māori educational outcomes.
Section 5: Lifting the Quality and Supporting the Growth of Kaupapa Mātauranga Māori
The focus here is on:
- Increasing the number of Kura Kaupapa Māori, contingent on quality.
- Improving the supply and retention of teachers in Māori-medium education.
- Increasing professional development of Māori-medium teachers.
- Getting more quality Māori language teaching and learning materials across the curriculum.
- Showing positive trends in ERO reports for kaupapa Māori schools.
Progress is being made in the development of mātauranga Māori programmes, in research, assessment and resources. Case study 7 shows the success of Te Poutama Tau in providing linguistic and pedagogical support for schools, teachers and children learning mathematics in Māori-medium.
Section 6: Valuing the Role that Parents and the Community Can Play (Section 6)
Government outcomes and targets for Māori education have a strong focus on encouraging and supporting the involvement of parents and whānau in their children's education. This section reports on some innovative school initiatives that are seeing more participation of families in their children's education (see Aranga School in case study 8). Whakaaro Mātauranga (Think Learning) and the Te Mana: Ki te Taumata campaign have also been important in engaging whānau and Māori communities with education (case study 9).
Section 7: Lifting Māori Participation and Achievement in Tertiary Education
Outcomes sought in tertiary education are:
- Improved levels of Māori tertiary achievement.
- Increasing Māori engagement with on-going learning through their lives.
- High quality teaching and accountability of tertiary organisations for meeting the diverse needs of Māori learners.
There are now more Māori participating in tertiary education than at any other time, with Māori participating in post-school education and training at a higher rate than non-Māori. While this is a very positive picture, far fewer Māori than non-Māori go from schooling directly on to tertiary education. Furthermore, many Māori adults have pressing literacy needs. Case study 10 looks at family and whānau literacy programmes for Māori.
The tertiary sector is experiencing considerable change. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) was established to oversee the implementation of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2002-2007. The Māori Tertiary Reference Group has been strongly engaged in contributing to the design of the reforms of the tertiary education system through the Tertiary Education Strategy (see case study 11).
Section 8: Strengthening the Role and Increasing the Involvement and Authority of Māori in Education
A fundamental aspect of the Government's approach to Māori education is to foster and support the increased involvement and authority of Māori in education at all levels. In particular, Government outcomes and targets focus on achieving:
- greater whānau, hapū, iwi involvement and authority in school governance
- greater Māori involvement and authority in tertiary education
- significantly more and better partnerships between iwi and education providers
- significantly increased parent and whānau support helping children in the home.
Over 400 Māori attended the second Hui Taumata Mātauranga in November 2001 and discussed education issues. Progress was also made in developing effective partnerships with iwi. Case study 12 looks at the work of Te Pūtahitanga Mātauranga, which seeks to raise Māori student achievement. These initiatives demonstrate that increasingly, iwi and Māori groups are seeking Government support to address the specific educational needs of their communities.
Section 9: Increasing the Ministry's Responsiveness to Māori
In setting the overall strategic, policy and funding framework in which education providers operate, the Ministry has a critical leadership and facilitation role across the whole education sector. Consequently, the Ministry has continued to develop staff capability. Key strategies include: continuing the strong focus on Māori education; increases in Māori staff in key areas of Ministry work; and more meaningful involvement of iwi and Māori in its work.
With the integration of Special Education Services and the Ministry of Education (see Section 4), work started on a draft Māori Strategy for Group Special Education (GSE) that sets out priorities, principles and actions to meet the special education needs of Māori.
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