Teaching the ‘Poor’ a Lesson: Beyond Punitive Discipline in Schools

Abstract

Like all other OECD countries, Aotearoa New Zealand’s least successful learners are defined equally by their gender, class and ethnicity, as by their inadequate learning scores. In the 2009 PISA study, 14.3 % of Aotearoa New Zealand learners failed to reach Proficiency level 2 at age 15. This is defined as the level at which learners have the skills necessary to function adequately in society. Mainly male, Māori and Pasifika, the social characteristics of this group mirror those of people who are incarcerated in the prisons. Aotearoa New Zealand has a below average number of failing students, but a very high rate of imprisonment, compared to other OECD countries (except the United States). Many of Aotearoa New Zealand’s schools operate on a basis of punitive discipline, involving pro-active measures to punish poor behaviour. But recently, some high schools have begun moving to a model based on restorative justice principles, and this approach is highly promising. There have also been parallel moves to base youth justice on restorative principles in some areas. These initiatives hold promise for stemming the flow through the so-called ‘pipeline’ from schools into the justice system (Kim in The school to prison pipeline: structuring legal reform, 2010).