Māori find value in highly politicised charter schools

The highly politicised charter school model is resonating with both a growing number of Māori students whose attendance rates are higher than state schools, and iwi determined to exercise autonomy over education for their whānau. But with the election looming, the schools face an uncertain future with Labour revealing they would disestablish the agency that oversees them.

Existing and soon-to-be-opened Māori-led schools include Auckland-based Tipene, Te Kāpehu Whetū in Whāngarei and Auckland, Te Rito-Te Kura Taiao in Northland’s Doubtless Bay, Te Kura Awhitu led by Tūhoe in Te Urewera, Te Kura o Ngāti Whātua ki Tamaki, Te Whare Kounga in Wairoa, and Ngāti Toa-led Kura Toa in Porirua.

Currently, Kura Toa is a pilot education programme that’s set to officially open as a charter school in the new year.

Jennie Smeaton, deputy chief executive of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, said the iwi has been exploring the option of a charter school for a long time to enable an alternative education pathway.

“A big part of our journey has been on making choices available to our whānau so that they can best engage and get the best out of their rangatahi as they can, and so charter was the option for us.”

She said since announcing the school people have been contacting them to find out how they can get onboard.

“There is a real desire for a different type of learning for whānau and what we have seen is the engagement has really increased. We don't have the attendance issues that some may be experiencing.

"We know that we've got a bit of a formula happening where whānau want to be engaged and they're regularly coming up and that's having positive effects with the wider whānau as well.”

She said students are showing up and engaging with their learning. Not only does she credit the education model, but the people they recruit to teach, and the activities they have built into the programme.

For example, while 1News was there, students were heading off to Mana Island for a dive, which she said was an activity that was identified to fit in with the education programme.

“Not only do [students] get to earn credits while they're doing that, they're reconnecting with our taiao and they are reestablishing cultural practices that may not have been able to have achieved through another medium that is currently being offered.”

Unlike state schools, charter schools can set their own curriculum, teaching hours, and governance structure. Student achievement and attendance is monitored by the Charter School Agency.

Initial figures have shown that Māori students are attending class more often at charter schools. Last year in term four there was a regular attendance rate of 65%, compared to state schools at 43%.

Currently, Kura Toa has a roll of twenty-five students and they have a temporary arrangement with Te Kura – The Correspondence School, trialling a partnership for the last two years.

“A big part of the Ngāti Toa ecosystem of education is that we pick the pathways that our whānau have the option of participating in, and so the charter school enables that to happen.

“We develop our curriculum based around Toa-tanga, we develop and recruit based on those that can achieve to deliver that for us, and then we bring in our whānau that will learn under this education model that one hundred per cent are committed to learning in this way.”

Bianca Elkington, general manager of education for Ngāti Toa, said Kura Toa has been long in the making.

“We started in iwi education with a community hub which was an iwi designed and led education support hub, Te Puna Mātauranga, and that's in its eleventh year. The natural progression from that has always been – the goal has always been – to be able to deliver the next step, which is a school, so Kura Toa is part of that.”

She said one of the exciting things about charter schools is the opportunity to design a curriculum that supports local kids by preparing them for a future and grounding them in iwi histories.

“It's an innovative curriculum that really enables us to teach our histories in securing every child in who they are as Māori, but who they are as Ngāti Toa, and who they are as somebody that lives within this region.”

There’s a strong sense of whānau, and how students connect to each other, she said.

“That in itself builds confidence in every child and it enables them to take on the world.”

Whānau and students have had an opportunity to input into the new curriculum. Elkington said students at the kura – “which is not the charter yet” – have been involved, taking an interest in whether there’s a uniform and who their teachers will be.

She said she had a conversation with a student the other day about how they wanted teachers who are kind because they didn’t want to be growled at every time they went to school.

“While that's just one child's experience in her schooling before coming here, that's something that we don't want to have in our kura.”

Instead, she said, they want to grow a sense of whānau, of manaaki.

Elkington said they were hoping to have a roll of around 75 by the start of next, and in the first year a maximum of 200 students, ranging from Year 7 to 13.

The site of the school has yet to be announced but she said it will be within walking distance for most kids that will choose Kura Toa as a pathway.

“And even those that don't, there'll be access to the school.”

Elkington said the feedback from students, and their parents, involved in the pilot programme have been about how they are able to find and ground themselves quickly due to the smaller number of students at the kura.

“Especially for young people who are transitioning from primary education through to secondary, that can sometimes be quite rocky. But here, small numbers, whānau who are teachers, it's localised, [and] the curriculum's localised.

“I mean, today our kids are out in the water – so they feel that sense of connection quite early, and for some kids in mainstream education that takes [ages] and sometimes it doesn't ever happen.

“But our whānau, what I'm hearing, is that kids are enjoying coming to school, they're happy, they're cared for, they feel like their kaiako know what their plan is and they've been given the support.”

When asked why he thought charter schools resonate with Māori, Associate Education Minister David Seymour said a distrust in the Government plays a part.

“There's a whole lot of people in the Māori world who don't trust the government for a bunch of reasons and they've had an opportunity to take education on their terms, they're grasping it with both hands and I think it's fantastic.”

He said he supported anyone taking control as long as they get results.

“It's not a free ride. They've got to get attendance; they've got to get achievement. If you look at Porirua, there are only 28.5 getting out with university entrance – that's not enough percentage. Twenty-eight point five per cent with university entrance is less than half of the national average. It's leaving these children without the tools to navigate the 21st century.

“So we're saying, ‘look, if you can beat the state system, we'll give you the share of education funding and the autonomy to do it your way’, and I support that strongly.”

There are 21 charter schools in the country. Seymour said if they are re-elected for another term in government the number of charter schools is likely to double.

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said they would disestablish the Charter School Agency.

“There are already provisions in the Education and Training Act that allow for designated character schools, integrated schools – there's a range of flexible options.”

He said some charter schools are operating more like alternative education providers than school providers.

“There are options there to support those who are doing genuinely innovative, new things that they couldn't do within the system. There are options there to accommodate them outside of the charter school model.”

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said they would prefer to see the government invest properly into the public education system.

“We realise for Māori communities we need to make sure that Māori have mana motuhake and agency over how schools are fit for purpose in Māori communities, but really, it's about ensuring that education is a public good and we need to properly, properly invest in it.”

She said there is a way to ensure Māori can lead education curriculum and systems without privatising education.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said they support charter schools that are designed by communities and within iwi, such as kura-ā-iwi.

“But the Government shouldn't be congratulating themselves for those ideas, those are what come from within the communities and what we want to see is more investment in solutions that are about those communities.”

Ngarewa-Packer said they look forward to the government adopting more initiatives like kura ā iwi rather than “locking” Māori into charter schools.

“Yes, charters are working for some people, but I would say there are some awesome models out there for te iwi Māori and kura ā iwi is one of them.”