Processes, policies, practices and people that perpetuate inequity
Whānau
Jess
I think when we got to primary school, we understood that we were playing in a different sandpit with different key players. And although we felt empowered and ready, we didn't realise, I think, how much of an effort it would be to make sure that Te Aurere was fully supported in primary school.
Tuhoro
In that first initial transition we had to go in there to advocate for Te Aurere. We might have had, like, three hui during the week, where we've gone into the school, we've sat down with them, been over some of his health and safety plans; what Te Aurere is like.
Other times it meant that we had to leave work early, so we were leaving our jobs. Leaving and just getting up because we get a call, get an email or message to say, “he's run out of the class” or “he's upset, what can you… can you come and pick him up”? And at first we felt like, oh okay, well, we will because, you know, I guess for us we didn't want to put that, I don't wanna say burden, but we didn't want to have the school to shelve that load.
And then we understood actually, nah. So we went in there, and we still do it to this day, eh. We still have to go in and we still have to advocate for him. And it's not just with the school, it's with, I guess, the Ministry or whoever it may be. Like we've had to butt heads and we’ve had to kick down the door, constantly saying, this is what we need for our son. I mean there's even sort of some of the things around particular policies in place, those were challenges in itself.
So with Te Aurere, he’s a person that loves to share, gives aroha, and he loves giving awhis and that. So he’s a really loving person, particularly as a tamaiti. And he loves to hug, and he's really into that. And that’s just him expressing his form of manaakitanga; his form of aroha.
But as we realised, that's okay to do that at kōhanga, and with the kaiako and other tamariki. But as we transition to where we are now, it was a bit different. Said, look, that’s maybe a bit inappropriate. And we had to, sort of, walk people through that eh. That journey around, this is part and parcel of who Te Aurere is; but also as a whānau Māori, as Māori, this is what we do as well.
Jess
What we found when we started delving into the policies was that they’re written from the perspective of a typical kid. There might be one or two sentences about a child with additional needs or a disability. But when you're putting that policy into practice, there's no guidelines or there's no practices in how you can do that effectively to support our taonga that are on this journey. It got to a point where we had actually said to MoE, we don't… that policy is not going to apply to us because it's not written with Te Aurere in mind.
Tuhoro
Probably the other one is just around that support that we've had for him. So the cap on how much support we could get for him was a huge, huge challenge eh. And we had to go in there. Thankfully our kura was willing to find additional support, additional hours, wherever that may be. But that took a bit of hui, a bit of pushing and shoving, even with the Ministry as well. So I think the cap on the hours was a big one. The same thing around zoning, particularly around zoning. That was an issue that we had. There was a particular, like the particular kura that we had to, we had to make the move there. Just ʻcause originally we were out of zone.
So those challenges that we've had to face, we thought, perhaps this could be better applied in other situations where there’s support needed.
Jess
Another example that I was thinking of was when we were going through that transition phase, the kōhanga had offered for the kaiako to come into kōhanga to start building a relationship with Te Aurere. That never happened.
That process, had he have had a relationship with the kaiako prior to going into the classroom, and prior to us spending all those hours going into the classroom to build that relationship with them, that would have taken like five weeks off our transition process. Because she would have… the kaiako would have come in and established a relationship with Te Aurere to make it, you know, feel more comfortable for him.
That didn't happen. And I would really love it if that was provided for taonga. To go into early education spaces where they can create a relationship and learn about, you know, learn from the other kaiako that's been spending years with him. And knows him just like how we do. And in an education setting she knows what works and what doesn't work, and she knows how to be courageous and be creative. And they can share. That connect was never really made, and I feel like that would have really helped in the process.
In this video, whānau discuss the difficulties and hurdles faced during the transition process from kōhanga to primary school for their taonga.
Colonial systems and values limit the support tamariki receive, with whānau hauā, tāngata whaikaha and whānau often excluded from decision-making processes. Despite being closest to the needs and worldview of their tamariki, whānau are not made partners in their children’s education and often face constant barriers while advocating for their tamariki.
As many as two-thirds of teachers surveyed report low confidence in their practice when working in a culturally responsive way with Māori disabled learners (ERO, 2022, p. 65).
The ways that whānau hauā, tāngata whaikaha and whānau are affected by processes, policies, practices and people are presented in the following themes from the report:
Decision making
- Whānau hauā and their whānau are currently under-represented and not adequately included in decision-making processes and leadership.
- There is a lack of whānau-centric practices.
Exclusionary practices
- Whānau hauā and their whānau recount a range of reasons for why they could not enrol their children, including lack of teacher aides and physical access constraints (for example, wheelchair access).
- Some schools placed conditions on a disabled child’s enrolment, typically requiring them to have ORS funding in place.
- Whaikaha and whānau were discouraged from mainstream education options. Instead of their needs being accommodated in mainstream settings, they are redirected towards special schools.
Lack of partnership
- The focus on individual rights has sometimes led to unintentional marginalisation of whānau (family), diminishing essential whakapapa (genealogical) and whanaungatanga (relationship) connections.
Education for learners with disabilities in Aotearoa
Ka hiahiatia pea ēnei
You may also be interested in
- Disability Rights: How is New Zealand doing? (Word)
A Human Rights Commission report on what’s required to eliminate poverty and inequality for disabled people. - Radical reform needed to save disabled children from poverty
The State Of Wellbeing And Equality For Disabled People, Their Families, And Whānau, published by CCS Disability Action. - Making Disability Rights Real 2014–2019
Aotearoa has a mixed record when it comes to the rights of disabled people, according to a report from the New Zealand Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM).
Hei whakaaro ake
Food for thought
- Where do you see inequity happening in your school, business or community? And to whom?
- In what ways can we interrogate our policies and practices to look for potential inequity for people with disabilities?
- Do our policies and procedures about access, staffing, finances and property support or disregard the needs and rights of disabled people in education?
- Who is missing from discussions and decision-making? What relationships are not prioritised or cared for? Who has influence and who are they listening to?
