Understanding the school environment

Tu Tangata, Issue 20, 1 October 1984, Page 36

Understanding the school environment

Maori parents need help to cope with their children if the children are to succeed at school, Te Awamutu College principal Keith Miller told the Waikato-Maniapoto Maori Wardens’ Association annual hui at Kihikihi in August.

Mr Miller said many maori parents were not coping with their children, but it was not all their own fault. The following is a summary of Mr Miller’s address:

“Much is made in the media of the lack of opportunity for maoris in education, and the disadvantages of maori students by the system. I do not subscribe to this theory, but believe maori students have equal if not more than equal opportunity within the system, if, and this is the big “if”, they know how to, or choose to take it.

“Various schemes safeguard the maori student in terms of opportunity maori trade training, maori education grants and bursaries, maori affairs grants, maori quotas reserved for medical schools and training colleges....

“No, what we need to consider today is not the lack of opportunity, but rather why the maori students are not coming forward to take up those opportunities.

“Society, I believe, particularly school society, is bending over backwards in schools to promote things maori and to encourage maori students, often to the stage where it has an adverse effect and criticism is levelled and resentment created among pakeha students.

“Let me consider why students are not succeeding and in these remarks I address myself to only a section of maori students, many of whom are really the “at-risk” members of our school community, or the middle group.

“Firstly, when the maori students comes to college he or she has probably had seven or eight years of school failure. They are not keen to come into a new institution. They have become accustomed to opposing the system and continue to do so at college it represents authority, and usually pakeha authority.

“Secondly they look at their parents and see them, because of their lack of education and their job levels, as being unsuccessful. Many parents are not coping. They do not know where to get help, and there are not the people about to give help. I see this in the case of students suspended from school when

parents say their child is uncontrollable, rude, arrogant, defiant and so on. They lack respect for parents, they lack respect for teachers, they lack respect for police, and I am sorry to say they lack respect for their elders. As such they lack respect for their parents.

“Thirdly, they have a low expectation of themselves, and this is critical. They see themselves leaving school at 15 years old and then on the dole at 16. In some communities there are streets of houses all with unemployed.

“Fourthly, the hardest thing in a school is to be a top maori student. The maori who shines academically is cast away by the group cast away because they work hard, do homework, accept correction and so on. The peer pressure is tremendous.

“Fifthly, maori parents in general believe in education. They want their children to succeed, but cannot help them. They often are not aware of alternatives like maori trade training, Waikato certificates and so on, and so they have an unrealistic expectation for their children. How often do I hear? ‘I want him to stay to get school certificate’, when school certificate is too much beyond their ability. This serves to compound their failure.

“Sixthly, look at the student he has failed educationally, doesn’t get on with his parents and school, and the family don’t offer much, but the peer group does, with things like smoking, wagging, glue sniffing. These standards of behaviour set them further apart from the rest of the school. It is a vicious circle, and this is what the community sees this is how maori youngsters are seen and judged, causing a low maori image a sad commentary.

“Seventhly, a dependence on having things done for them. I see this when we have to collect fees for school certificate and the like. There is an expectation that it will be provided and done for them. I can think of one case where a voluntary social worker does everything for a fit and well family food, clothing, budgeting, lawns, cleaning, arranges the plunkel and doctor and so on

there is an acceptance that someone will plan their entire lives. Students do not help themselves. Homework centres and study camps are set up for them, but they are not used.

“Eighthly, the demand for things as of right. The peer groups have an acceptance that property is to be shared using books, pencils, pens, swapping clothes and sharing homes is common. Unfortunately the same attitude often spills over to the property of the rest of the school society. They do not see anything wrong with this, and it is this curious morality which leads them into conflict with school authority. They are takers and not givers. This morality spills over to the people Judge Millar says.” (Hamilton District Court Judge J.E. Millar was another speaker at the hui).

“Ninthly, a refusal to accept the normal disciplinary measures operating within a school. Schools are in an ambivalent situation the maori student with the cry, ‘You’re picking on me because I’m a maori’, and the pakeha students says, ‘maoris get away with everything because they’re maoris’. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Certainly schools have a conflict. They need to understand maori customs and ways and allow for them in dealing with maori students without operating two sets of standards and creating a ‘them and us’ situation. It is not easy.

“Tenthly, school suspensions and expulsions taken rationally, a large proportion of these are for maori students. I have not got the figures, but I suspect the percentage would be similar to the percentage of maori prison inmates. For some of those at-risk students, expulsion is what they are seeking.

“Thus far I have been negative and painted the depressing side of maori students in education. Anyone can point out the problems. It is more difficult to offer solutions:

“Firstly, we need to start with the parents. I am not blaming the parents for not coping, but believe they need help. We need to educate parents to cope, but who best to help? Not the tea-

chers, because many parents are put off by teachers. We often strike a barrier when we try to get to the parents. The people who can help the parents are, I believe, in your community Maori Affairs, maori social workers, and more importantly, the marae committees. Parents need help, but if schools contact them they often react with violence fixed her, she won't sit down for a week’. “Secondly, it used to be sufficient for an elder to read a lecture to a boy to straighten himself up. Today this doesn't work. Sanctions don't work in school, and they are happy to be removed. We need trained, professional social workers with the skills and expertise to translate things and get through to parents. “Thirdly, the peer group's influence is strong and acting against positive attitudes. This needs to be reversed. These same trained people can help this reversal. “Fourthly, what of the guidance counselling in schools? Traditional counselling on a one-to-one basis does not work with many maori students. Group counselling methods are needed to get changes in attitudes. Time for this is a problem. A one-to-one situation with an adult is foreign to many maori students. They cannot converse with an adult, particularly a white adult teacher. This

requires skills that not all teachers have not all teachers are sympathetic to these situations. Because of this a maori student in a class situation will shut up, refuse to speak and appear insolent. Because of the lack of ability to verbalise, they will swear and abuse the teacher to get them out of it. Teachers need to be aware to avoid confrontation situations. Again there is the problem of two standards, because the European student can often verbalise and discuss potential trouble situations. “Many maori students have little cultural identity. They see culture as oldfashioned and don't want to know about it. They want to generate their own culture. We need to work at steering them in the direction of a good alternative. There is often an expectation that if a student has a dark skin he will be interested in maori language. We need alternative courses in maori culture and studies. We are introducing such a course at Te Awamutu next year. “And what of the good students? In earlier years good maori students did not think of themselves as maori. They now combine culture and success an effect which separates the more at-risk ones. Good maori students are coming through into Form Seven, achieving recognition as prefects and councillors in schools. It is hard to be the lone maori in Form Seven, but there is a good aware-

ness within senior students, both pakeha and maori, of the need to respect our cultural differences. “There is the development of marae within schools. These are promoting understanding, tolerance and greater acceptance. “The school in a town like Te Awamutu is the local employment agency. Most schools offer pre-employment courses, work exploration programmes and the like. “Many students, both maori and pakeha, do not know what a job involves. We are placing one student a day in permanent work. The percentage of maoris placed is higher than the maori percentage in the school. These successes act as an incentive for the others and outweigh, to me, the ones who don't want jobs, for example, a boy we worked hard to place who walked out after one hour on the job. “I have no magic answers, but the progress of maori students in schools, I believe, lies with the parents; with changing peer group attitudes; with the marae committees; with the development of an attitude of wanting to achieve; with the desire to help oneself; and above all with the rekindling of pride not only in being maori, but pride in themselves. “With this we in the schools can do something.”