Culture and learning in a New Zealand secondary school

Abstract

This paper describes the approach of one New Zealand State secondary school, Tikipunga High, to the formal learning needs of its students. The paper focuses on Maori students but the school's approach is intended to help all students whose culture makes them vulnerable to school experiences which could reduce their adult life choices. The concept of culture is complex but for this paper and for the school's work it means the shared perceptions within social groups, and these may be as numerous as the different value systems on which they draw. Culture can be described in terms of the language habits (spoken or symbolic) which define, produce and reproduce the world for its users, and often are reflected in the practices of the group. In simple terms, culture can be viewed as the way people think and act. As well, culture may be modified in its transmission from generation to generation and it may be imposed on subordinate groups. This definition allows for ethnic culture and, for school purposes, the cultures of gender, socio-economic status and youth in particular. It also recognizes the multiplicity of cultural challenges which schools face. It should be stressed that the school's work is not and never will be finished because the school context and the students' learning needs will keep changing. The model is offered, therefore, only as the current response to students' needs. The claim this paper makes is that the practice of continuing and democratic critical reflection on educational theory and school policies and practices is the essential feature of the school's approach. It is process, rather than product, which is stressed, although the school does recognize that the product is always important.