Maxim Institute - real issues - No 247

Maxim Institute - real issues - No 247
5 April 2007
www.maxim.org.nz

Strengthening the thin blue line
National standards: passing the test
How to grow strong communities

IN THE NEWS

More couples staying married
New Zealand “miserly” on aid

STRENGTHENING THE THIN BLUE LINE

The report of the three year Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct
released to Parliament this week has raised major questions about what we
expect of our Police and about how well those expectations are being
communicated.

The Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct examines police
practices, conduct and internal investigations between 1979 and 2005, and
makes 60 recommendations for the New Zealand Police. Overall, the
Commission praised the New Zealand Police for good practices, commending
the vast majority of hard-working Kiwi cops. It also recognised, however,
that a higher moral standard is expected of those holding positions of
authority in our community, and so saw an overwhelming need for the
creation of standards and policies regarding the conduct of officers,
particularly their sexual conduct.

Dame Margaret Bazley, who headed the Inquiry, said that although there was
evidence of some 'disgraceful conduct' during the period investigated, many
of these incidents took place during the 1980s, and since then initiatives
have been taken by Police management to address these areas. Despite this,
the Commission recommends the creation of a single, accessible code of
conduct for officers, especially in relation to appropriate sexual
practices. It is disappointing that such a document is needed to ensure
that Police officers are aware of what the community considers appropriate
sexual conduct. Whether officers choose to do right and adhere to the code
will impact on the public's level of confidence in the Police and trust in
their authority.

The report indicates an expectation within our community that, as holders
of power and authority, the Police are held to a higher standard of moral
conduct, whether on duty or off. There is no one document, however, that
the Police can refer to for guidance in this area. In many ways, it is a
sign of our post-modern society that such a document is needed; in a
culture where personal morals are seen as fluid and subjective, such a
solid and directive code of conduct imposes from outside what has failed to
be formed internally: allegiance to the common moral ethic, and a culture
of self-control.

Read the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct

Write to the editor

NATIONAL STANDARDS: PASSING THE TEST

John Key turned up the heat on education standards this week, issuing a
challenge to Prime Minister Helen Clark to say how many kids left primary
school last year without reaching the minimum expected standard in reading,
writing and maths, and calling for national standards in literacy and
numeracy.

This challenge was hot on the heels of a report from the Education Review
Office (ERO) on the collection and use of assessment information in
schools, which found only 44 percent of schools were 'effectively
establishing and using school-wide information to improve student
achievement.' The statements highlight the absence of a national report on
pupil progress in New Zealand. Every pupil in every school should be
assessed against national standards to monitor their progress and to
understand the value added by the teacher or the school to their learning.
There is some information available, but the education system could do a
lot better.

The government and the Ministry of Education have deliberately shunned the
introduction of national standards - and assessments referenced to them -
out of an irrational fear that the information will lead to parents
comparing schools. While teachers need assessments that help them to find
out what pupils can and cannot do, there is also a need for assessments
that can monitor precisely how pupils are progressing towards expected
standards—like learning to read.

One of the various national tests which schools may use in the classroom,
asTTle (Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning), touched on by Mr Key,
has the potential to be developed into a national report on pupil progress.
Since asTTle tests are calibrated to both national norms for sub-groups of
the population and achievement standards within curriculum levels, pupils'
results can be compared against a common understanding of achievement, and
teachers alerted if there is cause for concern. This sort of monitoring is
what parents expect, and they should have it.

The problem is that asTTle remains voluntary because of the educrats' fear
of comparison. Mr Key has missed the opportunity to require every school to
employ asTTle. Using asTTle would mean teachers would have a national
'test' that could help them in the classroom and provide a comprehensive
national report on pupil progress, without having to introduce an elaborate
national exam to test whether pupils have achieved national standards.
Pupils, parents and teachers would all benefit.

Read Maxim Institute's media release on this issue

Write to the editor

HOW TO GROW STRONG COMMUNITIES

At the Maxim Institute 2007 Forum last Friday, Professor Peter Saunders,
from the Centre for Independent Studies in Australia, gave an address on
The power of community and the limits of government. His talk really cut to
the heart of the central challenge posed by social justice - how do we
build strong communities? The key ideas of his talk are summarised below.

Sociologist Ferdinand Toennies, said, 'The sentiments and motives which
draw people to each other, keep them together, and induce them to joint
action'. People tend to be drawn together through family relations, shared
geographic location, shared beliefs, or conversely, through self-interest
in matters such as trade. Clearly these factors are all important things
which strengthen communities. In pursuing social justice we have too often
turned to the government, expecting it to create social cohesion by
redistributing wealth when, in fact, increased interference by government
can have unintended consequences - even producing a weaker and more
disconnected society.

When we look to government to be chiefly responsible for bringing about
social justice, we disempower individuals by removing the need for personal
responsibility. We instead entrench dependency. We politicise civil society
when government removes the need for communities to help people;
consequently, civil society ends up simply lobbying the government for
money, rather than tackling the problem itself. In doing this we also crowd
out the 'little platoons', the organic institutions and allegiances of the
community which are capable of meeting needs.

Government is not a neutral force; when it acts, it either acts for good or
for evil and sometimes the consequences of legislation will not be seen for
a long time. There is some evidence to suggest that in New Zealand,
increased government spending and initiatives have not built the social
cohesion they aimed at.

Sociologist Robert Nisbet's insight and response to Toennies is instructive
for all seeking social justice: People will not come together in small,
cohesive social groups unless they share some practical reason for doing
so, when they recognise some common purpose that must be realised through
cooperating with each other. The more the State does for people, the less
they need to do for themselves and the fewer reasons there will be for them
to associate together, and to work together, for the common good.

Listen to an interview with Peter Saunders and NewstalkZB's Leighton Smith
(Available until 6/4/2007, Timecode: 11:00)

Read an overview of the Maxim Institute Forum 2007 by John Fox

Write to the editor

IN THE NEWS

MORE COUPLES STAYING MARRIED

More couples in New Zealand are remaining married, an incline which has
been linked to the current strong economy. New data has been released this
week by the Ministry of Social Development at the Social Policy Research
and Evaluation Conference 2007. These new figures show there has been a
slight increase in married couples staying together; 72 percent of couples
remained together as shown in the 2006 census, up one percent from 2001.

The data shows that the largest increase in couples staying together is
found in those couples with children under the age of three. Moira Wilson,
analyst from the Ministry of Social Development, said that the data points
to the likelihood of a higher success rate in marriages for this younger
generation than the previous generation, which suffered through a tougher
financial period. Given the importance of marriage for children and society
at large, such figures are an encouraging sign.

Visit the Social Policy Research and Evaluation Conference 2007 website

NEW ZEALAND 'MISERLY' ON AID

A new OECD report shows that New Zealand's level of overseas development
aid remains at 0.27 percent of the Gross National Income (GNI), unchanged
from 2005. This level of foreign aid ranks New Zealand in the bottom six
OECD countries for aid levels, along with Japan, Portugal, Italy, the
United States and Greece. OXFAM New Zealand labelled the figure 'miserly',
and United Future Leader Peter Dunne called for New Zealand to increase the
amount to 0.7 percent 'over the next few years'.

Read the OCED report on development aid

TALKING POINT

'No social group will long survive the disappearance of its chief reasons
for being'

Robert Nisbet, The Quest for Community, 1953

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