In New Zealand, native schools were established to provide education for Māori. The first schools for Māori children were established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the Bay of Islands after the arrival of the CMS in 1814. Bishop Pompallier arrived in 1838. Priests and brothers of the Marist order, established schools for the Māori throughout the country, including Hato Paora College (Feilding) and Hato Petera College (Auckland). St Joseph's Māori Girls' College (Taradale) was founded by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.

The Native Schools Act 1867 established a national system of village primary schools under the control of the Native Department. As part of the Government's policy to assimilate Māori into Pākehā society, instruction was to be conducted entirely in English where practical. Under the Act, it was the responsibility of Māori communities to request a school for their children, form a school committee, supply land for the school and, until 1871, pay for half of the building costs and a quarter of the teacher's salary. Despite this, many communities were keen for their children to learn English as a second language and by 1879 there were 57 native schools. In 1880 the first inspector of native schools was appointed and issued a Native Schools Code that prescribed a curriculum, established qualifications for teachers, and standardised operation for the Māori schools.

Church and missionary schools

The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands in 1814 and over the next decade established schools in the Bay of Islands. The education of Māori children and adults was advanced with the arrival of the Revd. Henry Williams and his wife Marianne in 1823.[1][2] In 1826 Henry's brother, the Revd. William, and his wife Jane joined the CMS mission and settled at Paihia in the Bay of Islands, where schools were established. Richard Taylor, was appointed as head of the CMS school at Te Waimate mission in 1839 and remained there until 1842.[3][4]

Schools for Māori children and adults were established in locations where the CMS established mission stations. For example, the Revd. William Williams and his family arrived at Tūranga, Poverty Bay on 20 January 1840.[5] The schools run by William and Jane Williams were well attended, the school opened with five classes for men, two classes for women and classes for boys. Classes covered practical knowledge as well as the teaching of the scriptures.[6]

Until the 1860s, the government subsidised church schools for Māori. Early missionary schools were often conducted in the Māori language, which was the predominant language throughout the early part of the 19th century. By the 1860s, three-quarters of the Māori population could read in Māori and two-thirds could write in Māori. The Education Ordinance of 1847 provided funding for mission schools and required them to conduct classes in English in order to receive subsidies.

The New Zealand Wars forced the closure of many of the mission schools.[7] However, Te Aute College and Hukarere Girls' College in Hawkes Bay, which were established by the CMS, were not impacted by the wars. Schools for Māori children that followed the Roman Catholic tradition, including Hato Paora College (Feilding); and St Joseph's Māori Girls' College (Taradale), were also not impacted by the wars.

Native schools

The Native Schools Act of 1867 was a major shift in policy. Rather than helping churches to rebuild mission schools after the wars, the government offered secular, state-controlled, primary schools to Māori communities who petitioned for them. In return for providing a suitable site, the government provided a school, teacher, books, and materials.[8] Native school teachers frequently also provided medicines and medical advice to their pupils and their families,[9][10][11] and acted as liaison between rural communities and the government.[12][13]

James Pope (1837–1913) was appointed the organising inspector of native schools in January 1880 and he issued a Native Schools Code later in 1880 that prescribed a curriculum, established qualifications for teachers, and standardised operation for the native schools.[14] The primary mission was to assimilate Māori into European culture. Māori could attend Board of Education schools and non-Māori could attend native schools, although the primary purpose of the native schools was providing European education for Māori.

The Act required that instruction be carried out in English where practicable.[15] The Native Schools Code published in 1880 stated that "the Native children must be taught to read and write the English language, and to speak it" and also

It is not necessary that teachers should, at the time of their appointment, be acquainted with the Māori tongue; but they may find it desirable to learn enough Māori to enable them to communicate with the adult Natives. In all cases English is to be used by the teacher when he is instructing the senior classes. In the junior classes the Māori language may be used for the purpose of making the children acquainted with the meanings of English words and sentences. The aim of the teacher, however, should be to dispense with the use of Māori in school as soon as possible.[14]

In 1906 the Inspector of Native Schools, William Bird, reported to the Inspector-General of Schools:

I should like to impress upon both teachers and committees the necessity for encouraging the children to talk English on the playground, and to see that this is done as much as possible. There are many schools in which this habit is regularly practised, and it is very encouraging to hear the young Māori children calling to one another in English as they chase each other about the playground. I may inform teachers that it has been alleged that an important distinction exists in this very respect between the Māori children attending a Board school and those attending one of our own Native schools—namely, that the former speak English in the playground, while the latter speak Māori. I hope that teachers will do their best to give this statement a practical denial, and to take every care to impress upon the children the necessity of practising outside school the lessons they learn within it.[16]

Although children were to be encouraged to speak English, there was no official policy banning children from speaking Te Reo Māori. However some native school committees made rules banning this,[17] and Māori children were sometimes physically punished for speaking their native tongue at school.[18] This practice, which persisted for decades after the act was introduced in the mid 19th century, contributed to the massive decline in Te Reo Māori.

In the late 1800s, George Hogben, Director of Education, implemented the policy of removing academic subjects, such as Latin, Euclidean geometry and algebra, which were subjects that were part of the matriculation programme for entry to a university, and focused the curriculum of native schools on agricultural and technical instruction and domestic skills.[19] It was pointed out that there was nothing to stop a Māori from learning classics, maths and algebra (for example) at a regular public school.[20] Regarding Te Aute College, there was a recommendation in 1906 that "having regard to the circumstances of the Maoris as owners of considerable areas of suitable agricultural and pastoral land, it is necessary to give prominence in the curriculum to manual and technical instruction in agriculture.[21] This view was supported by Māori politicians.[22] William Bird, Inspector of Native Schools, expressed the opinion that the objective of Māori education should be to prepare pupils for life among Māori where they could take the skills they had learned to improve the lives of people in their home villages.[23]

In 1929 history was added to the native school curriculum, with teachers being advised to emphasize Māori and New Zealand history, and in 1930 a new primary school syllabus was introduced to board schools and (with modifications) to native schools.[24] The new syllabus was criticised by an ex-Inspector of Native Schools in 1936. He stated that:

The Maori language has been degraded and corrupted, and the young Maori has learned to aspire after pakeha ideas, sports and fashions and to despise Maori ways. The idea that the Maori would soon be absorbed into the pakeha population was one stultifying cause, and another was the lust for examination results inherent in a system run by ex-teachers and easily communicated to parents and the public. The most urgent reform in the education of the Maori is to restore and preserve the Maori language. Thousands of Maori children cannot speak Maori. This is a great loss.[25]

At a Māori conference in 1936 the subject of teaching Māori language was discussed and attendees pointed out that children in native schools were punished for speaking Māori. Academics at Auckland University College supported the view from the conference that Māori language and culture should be fostered at native schools,[26][27] but by 1939 the Inspector of Native Schools was able to state that pupils seemed to be thinking in English more often and translating more easily from Māori to English.[28]

In 1947 George Brown, the only Māori on the Hawkes Bay Education Board, suggested that board schools and native schools should be unified completely under one system. He pointed out that most Māori children attended board schools and felt there was no longer any need for separate schools, unless there was a demand for a completely separate system.[29]

The number of Māori schools (as they began to be called) began to decline in the 1950s. In 1958 almost 70 per cent of Māori children attended a board school, but there were still 157 Māori schools (down from 166 in 1955). The government's long-term policy was to transfer Māori schools to the control of education boards, in consultation with local Māori communities. The New Zealand Official Yearbook stated:

The language of instruction in the Maori schools is English, but the schools are not completely English in outlook, for Maori arts and crafts, song, legend, and history are taught. Methods of teaching are practical, and objectives closely related to the special needs of the Maori people. In many of the Maori schools, such equipment as woodwork rooms, cookery rooms, model cottages, baths, hot and cold showers, and laundries is supplied. Health education is featured in every Maori school.[30]

The number of Māori schools continued to decline, and by 1968 there were only 108 Māori primary schools with a total of 8200 pupils, including 749 non-Māori children. 85 percent of Māori children attended state primary schools controlled by education boards, 11.1 percent were at Māori schools controlled directly by the Education Department, and 3.8 percent attended private schools (including Māori private schools).[31]

In 1968 the Prime Minister announced that all state Māori schools would be put under the management of education boards, and the last 108 native schools were transferred to the control of boards by the beginning of 1969.[32][33] The aim was to deliver a better service to Māori pupils.

See also

References

  1. ^ Fitzgerald, Caroline (2011). Te Wiremu: Henry Williams – Early Years in the North. Huia Publishers, New Zealand. ISBN 978-1-86969-439-5.
  2. ^ Fitzgerald, Caroline (2004). Marianne Williams: Letters from the Bay of Islands. Penguin Books, New Zealand. ISBN 0-14-301929-5.
  3. ^ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, February 1844". Missionary Meeting at Waimate, New Zealand. Adam Matthew Digital. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, March 1844". A Native Congregation at Waimate – Contrast between the Past and the Present. Adam Matthew Digital. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. ^ Williams, William. "The Church Missionary Gleaner, April 1841". Formation of a Church Mission at Turanga, or Poverty Bay, New Zealand. Adam Matthew Digital. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  6. ^ Fowler, Leo (1974). Te Mana o Turanga. Penrose Printing / N.Z. Historic Places Trust. p. 1 & 4.
  7. ^ Calman, Ross (20 June 2012). "Māori education – mātauranga - Missionaries and the early colonial period". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  8. ^ Waitangi Tribunal Report on Ngai Tahu Schools and Hospitals (Report). 1991. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007.
  9. ^ "Reports from officers in native districts". Paperspast (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1 January 1884). 1 January 1884. p. G1 p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Education: Native Schools". Paperspast (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1 January 1894). p. E2, p.2. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Native teachers: what their duties are". Ohinemuri Gazette. 25 June 1909. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Ministerial". Marlborough Express. 8 February 1893. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Work of Native Schools: Native Minister's praise". New Zealand Herald. 28 September 1912. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b "The Native Schools Code". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 1880 Session I, H-1F: 1. 1880. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022 – via Paperspast.
  15. ^ "Native Schools Act 1867 (31 Victoriae 1867 No 41)". www.nzlii.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Education: Native Schools". Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives. Session II, E2: 11–12. 31 March 1906 – via Paperspast.
  17. ^ "Educating the Maori: the Native School system". New Zealand Herald. 29 January 1908. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022 – via Paperspast. Maori committees are very enthusiastic sometimes. They make such rules as " Only English to be spoken in the playground."
  18. ^ "A mutilated tongue". Auckland Star. 24 May 1933. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  19. ^ Hutchings, Jessica; Lee-Morgan, Jenny, eds. (2016). "Chapter 1, Reclaiming Māori education, by Ranginui Walker" (PDF). Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, research and practice. NZCER Press. ISBN 978-0-947509-17-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Te Aute and Wanganui School Trusts (Report and evidence of the Royal Commission on)". Paperspast (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1 January 1906). p. G5, 95–96. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  21. ^ "Te Aute and Wanganui School Trusts (Report and evidence of the Royal Commission on)". Paperspast (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1 January 1906). 1906. p. G5, iv. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  22. ^ "Native Schools". Dominion. 5 October 1917. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Te Aute and Wanganui School Trusts (Report and evidence of the Royal Commission on)". Paperspast (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1 January 1906). 1906. p. G5, 93. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Education of Native Children". Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives. Session 1, E3: 3, 5. 1930 – via Papers Past.
  25. ^ "Education of the Maori". Northern Advocate. 8 February 1936. p. 12 – via Papers Past.
  26. ^ "The Maori Youth". Gisborne Times. 2 October 1936. p. 5 – via Papers Past.
  27. ^ "Strong Support". Auckland Star. 3 October 1936. p. 13 – via Papers Past.
  28. ^ "Growing Demand". Auckland Star. 12 September 1939. p. 5 – via Papers Past.
  29. ^ Brown, George (6 May 1947). "Unification of Schools". Gisborne Herald. p. 4 – via Papers Past.
  30. ^ New Zealand Official Yearbook. Department of Statistics. 1960.
  31. ^ New Zealand Official Yearbook. Department of Statistics. 1970.
  32. ^ Calman, Ross. "Māori education – mātauranga - The native schools system, 1867 to 1969". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  33. ^ "Maori Schools' Service to End". Press. 7 May 1968. p. 32 – via Papers Past.

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