Three curriculum and organisational responses to cultural pluralism in New Zealand schooling

Abstract

Abstract This article looks at three educational responses to cultural diversity that are now operating alongside one another in New Zealand schooling. The first response is the minimum now recommended for government schools: the incorporation of programmes in taha Maori ('things Maori') within the mainstream curriculum of schools; the second response is the organisational and curricular modification of existing schools to take account of Maori student presence within them; and the third response is the development of Nga Kura Kaupapa Maori ('Maori culture and language immersion primary schools') which incorporate organisational and pedagogical features that are in sympathy with Maori cultural values. Conclusions are drawn for the education of minority cultures in other countries where those cultures are very different in their values and mores from the dominant culture.