Ethnic Diversity Challenges Need Adequate Resourcing

Secondary teachers welcome the Education Review Office report into ethnic diversity in schools and say the challenges need to be resourced adequately.

“ERO’s report contains some very concerning information, particularly around bullying and the barriers that ethnic students and their whānau come up against daily.

The report also highlights some of the great work that many schools are doing to embrace ethnically diverse families,” says Chris Abercrombie, acting president of PPTA Te Wehengarua.

“We want to ensure students from all ethnicities feel part of, and thrive in, school in Aotearoa New Zealand. Schools and teachers are very responsive and are definitely up to the challenge.

“We welcome the opportunities, identified in this report, to look again at what we teach and how we teach.”

“However as with all educational improvements and initiatives, it is imperative that the funding is provided to enable positive changes to happen.

“A good step in the right direction would be to increase pastoral care and guidance staffing in our schools so there are more skilled and professional teachers available to help ethnic students who are being bullied or excluded.

“Teachers have a really valuable role to play when it comes to embracing diversity, particularly in terms of encouraging young peope to think critically and question the kind of ‘information’ they see in social media.

“Equally, parents, caregivers and communities have a valuable role to play around practising and instilling tolerance, acceptance and inclusiveness.”

Chris Abercrombie endorsed the report’s finding that there were existing mechanisms within the education system to create schools with distinct values, characters and expectations and options to increase support for communities to do this.

“There is absolutely no need to even consider the failed experiment that was charter schools.”

“Secondary teachers want well resourced schools in an Aotearoa New Zealand that honours the Treaty of Waitangi, values biculturalism and embraces ethnically diverse cultures.”

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