Brave New Curriculum

Key Question Being Explored in This Insight:

Michael Belgrave suggests the public history in New Zealand since the 1990s has been often dominated by the need to acknowledge New Zealand’s colonial past.

View the page of: Michael Belgrave

Institution: Massey University

Explore more insights in:

Arts and Humanities History

Media Literacy Toolkit

Faculti's Media Literacy Toolkit helps viewers critically engage with academic insights by analyzing the research context, identifying perspectives, and encouraging thoughtful evaluation.

Critical Questions to Consider ▼

What assumptions does the research make?
Are there alternative perspectives not explored?
What are the limitations of the research method?

Bias and Perspective Awareness ▼

This research comes from Massey University . Reflect on how the institution's academic focus and research partnerships may shape the questions being explored.

Further Reading ▼

Read the Study

Michael Belgrave suggests the public history in New Zealand since the 1990s has been often dominated by the need to acknowledge New Zealand’s colonial past.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 21, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video video discusses the complex history and ongoing dynamics of New Zealand's colonial past, particularly regarding its indigenous Maori population. Starting with New Zealand's inclusion in the British Empire in 1840 and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the narrative highlights how the treaty's commitments were frequently broken, leading to ongoing struggles for Maori rights and recognition.

In the past few decades, efforts have been made to acknowledge this colonial history, including the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal and treaty settlements, which have empowered Maori economically and culturally. However, recent political changes and a backlash against these efforts have arisen, particularly post-COVID. A new coalition government emerging from the most recent election has shifted toward more conservative policies, including revisiting the role of Maori terminology in government and education.

This video video also emphasizes significant changes in the educational curriculum to include Maori history more prominently, which has been met with critiques regarding its depth and inclusivity of other cultural histories. While there has been a push for biculturalism and acknowledgment of historical injustices, the political landscape is currently shifting, raising concerns about the future trajectory of these efforts.

The historical context and the debate surrounding the treatment of Maori culture highlight a broader struggle for identity and recognition in post-colonial societies. Overall, while progress has been made in integrating Maori perspectives into mainstream society, political tensions indicate an uncertain future regarding race relations and historical reconciliation in New Zealand.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:90000

1
00:00:00.065 --> 00:00:01.925
New Zealand is a debt colonial society.

2
00:00:02.185 --> 00:00:04.565
It became part of the British Empire in 1840.

3
00:00:04.915 --> 00:00:07.245
Most significant aspect of that is it became part

4
00:00:07.245 --> 00:00:10.445
of the British Empire at a time of,

5
00:00:10.575 --> 00:00:12.165
great concern about the impact

6
00:00:12.165 --> 00:00:14.045
of colonization on indigenous people.

7
00:00:14.145 --> 00:00:18.845
So it came, the initial part of the inclusion

8
00:00:18.945 --> 00:00:20.045
of, of, of New Zealand

9
00:00:20.065 --> 00:00:22.005
and the Empire was the signing of the Treaty

10
00:00:22.005 --> 00:00:25.245
of Waitangi in 1840, which was a treaty with all,

11
00:00:25.865 --> 00:00:27.525
not all tribes signed it.

12
00:00:27.525 --> 00:00:29.205
There, very substantial number of,

13
00:00:29.225 --> 00:00:32.645
of leading chiefs throughout the country signed this treaty,

14
00:00:32.645 --> 00:00:35.925
which provided a series of commitments about recognition

15
00:00:35.925 --> 00:00:38.565
of their chiefly authority, particularly over land.

16
00:00:39.425 --> 00:00:42.285
And much of our history has been a history of

17
00:00:42.285 --> 00:00:43.845
how this treaty was broken,

18
00:00:44.285 --> 00:00:46.205
reinterpreted, and certainly broken.

19
00:00:46.425 --> 00:00:49.525
And over the last 35, 40 years,

20
00:00:49.905 --> 00:00:51.045
or now nearly 50 years,

21
00:00:51.655 --> 00:00:53.405
we've had something called the Yang Tribunal.

22
00:00:53.665 --> 00:00:56.565
And we've had processes of, of kind of investigation of,

23
00:00:56.785 --> 00:00:59.365
of New Zealand's colonial past since 1985.

24
00:00:59.785 --> 00:01:01.925
And more recently we've had treaty settlements.

25
00:01:01.985 --> 00:01:04.405
So the general process over the last 30

26
00:01:04.405 --> 00:01:09.165
or 40 years has been to recognize colonial colonialism

27
00:01:09.265 --> 00:01:10.445
and its impact on New Zealand

28
00:01:10.785 --> 00:01:13.645
and to also reestablish Maori

29
00:01:13.645 --> 00:01:16.405
as a living central part of New Zealand life.

30
00:01:16.625 --> 00:01:20.085
And you use Thero to describe New Zealand was given a name

31
00:01:20.265 --> 00:01:22.005
by the Dutch for heaven's sake.

32
00:01:22.225 --> 00:01:25.605
And more recently people have started to use the term rro,

33
00:01:25.605 --> 00:01:27.405
which has become politically controversial,

34
00:01:27.635 --> 00:01:29.605
both alongside Aro New Zealand.

35
00:01:29.715 --> 00:01:31.765
I've got a book coming out where I will use the term,

36
00:01:31.955 --> 00:01:34.605
it's a relatively recent term for the country.

37
00:01:34.755 --> 00:01:36.885
It's not a deeply rooted Maori term,

38
00:01:37.665 --> 00:01:40.685
but doing so is recognized something we call Biculturalism,

39
00:01:40.735 --> 00:01:44.125
which is the increasing importance of New Zealand,

40
00:01:44.125 --> 00:01:45.485
of Maori and New Zealand life.

41
00:01:46.145 --> 00:01:50.045
So things like language, art, music, a revival

42
00:01:50.045 --> 00:01:53.365
of Maori language, which has been given a priority

43
00:01:53.385 --> 00:01:55.885
by Maori since the 1980s, means

44
00:01:55.885 --> 00:01:58.165
that Maori are much more central to New Zealand's life.

45
00:01:58.225 --> 00:02:01.445
Treaty settlements have given Maori a much stronger place in

46
00:02:01.445 --> 00:02:05.605
the economy with very large organizations in some parts

47
00:02:05.605 --> 00:02:07.645
of the country that have become the major economic

48
00:02:07.645 --> 00:02:09.005
player in their regions.

49
00:02:09.075 --> 00:02:11.125
However, over the last three

50
00:02:11.125 --> 00:02:14.525
or four years we've had in the general post covid angst

51
00:02:14.675 --> 00:02:16.205
that most countries have suffered.

52
00:02:16.335 --> 00:02:18.045
We've had the beginnings of a backlash.

53
00:02:18.425 --> 00:02:20.805
And we've seen in the last election,

54
00:02:21.045 --> 00:02:23.325
a coalition government emerge in a,

55
00:02:23.325 --> 00:02:26.005
we have a mixed member proportional representation system,

56
00:02:26.365 --> 00:02:28.645
MMP, and to get elected,

57
00:02:29.145 --> 00:02:32.525
the center right National Party has had to do deals

58
00:02:32.635 --> 00:02:36.765
with two more on the edge minority parties, both

59
00:02:36.765 --> 00:02:39.365
of which have pushed national into a stronger, you know,

60
00:02:39.375 --> 00:02:41.925
which its opponents say is an anti anti Maori,

61
00:02:41.925 --> 00:02:44.565
but certainly to put the brakes on some of that direction.

62
00:02:44.865 --> 00:02:47.605
So things like government departments had Maori names

63
00:02:47.775 --> 00:02:49.085
first and then English names.

64
00:02:49.145 --> 00:02:51.525
So then under the new thing, the English names are gonna go

65
00:02:51.525 --> 00:02:54.685
back again because everyone understand the English names

66
00:02:54.835 --> 00:02:58.405
like MOT the acronyms are supposedly meaningful in

67
00:02:58.405 --> 00:02:59.765
English and not Maori.

68
00:02:59.865 --> 00:03:03.365
So subtle changes, changes in interpreting the Treaty

69
00:03:03.365 --> 00:03:07.045
of Wang have been suggested by one in one extreme position.

70
00:03:07.265 --> 00:03:08.725
So things are in a state of flux.

71
00:03:08.875 --> 00:03:10.085
Yeah, that's where we are,

72
00:03:10.195 --> 00:03:11.325
like everywhere else in the world.

73
00:03:11.395 --> 00:03:12.565
It's getting really confused.

74
00:03:12.715 --> 00:03:15.045
This is, it's important to locate just when

75
00:03:15.045 --> 00:03:16.205
and how this came about.

76
00:03:16.395 --> 00:03:18.845
Obviously with this, we've had this, you know,

77
00:03:19.125 --> 00:03:20.485
reconsideration of colonization

78
00:03:20.785 --> 00:03:24.525
and there's been a move over a long period of time in 30

79
00:03:24.525 --> 00:03:28.445
or 40 years to include much more New Zealand history

80
00:03:28.865 --> 00:03:31.005
and particularly history about colonization in

81
00:03:31.005 --> 00:03:32.245
New Zealand in the school curriculum.

82
00:03:32.245 --> 00:03:34.925
But we've had a curriculum since the 1990s

83
00:03:35.175 --> 00:03:38.205
where schools really determine what teachers

84
00:03:38.305 --> 00:03:39.965
and schools will decide the content.

85
00:03:41.025 --> 00:03:43.485
And there's been a major concern that key parts

86
00:03:43.485 --> 00:03:45.605
of New Zealand's history, like the New Zealand wars

87
00:03:45.605 --> 00:03:49.365
that were fought in the 1860s are not being taught.

88
00:03:50.385 --> 00:03:54.725
And the ministry of Ed did not want to bring in this form

89
00:03:54.725 --> 00:03:55.805
of curriculum

90
00:03:55.875 --> 00:03:59.125
because it, it ran against how the curriculum worked.

91
00:03:59.125 --> 00:04:02.685
But the Prime Minister in 2019,

92
00:04:02.715 --> 00:04:06.365
Jacinda Dern really initiated, she said,

93
00:04:06.695 --> 00:04:08.005
we're gonna have a new curriculum.

94
00:04:08.005 --> 00:04:09.965
We're gonna put New Zealand history at the center of it.

95
00:04:10.465 --> 00:04:13.045
And that got broken by Covid a bit.

96
00:04:13.305 --> 00:04:17.565
But at the beginning of last year, we had the introduction

97
00:04:17.825 --> 00:04:22.125
of the new curriculum, and that curriculum was established.

98
00:04:22.745 --> 00:04:24.245
And it is a post-colonial curriculum.

99
00:04:24.365 --> 00:04:28.285
I mean, it does take, make Maori history, the center

100
00:04:28.305 --> 00:04:29.565
of New Zealand's history,

101
00:04:30.145 --> 00:04:33.125
and it does deal head on with colonization,

102
00:04:33.575 --> 00:04:36.125
which doesn't mean that some Maori haven't criticized it

103
00:04:36.145 --> 00:04:38.965
for not focusing even more strongly on, on,

104
00:04:38.965 --> 00:04:40.165
on Maori centered history.

105
00:04:40.825 --> 00:04:43.445
But compared with what happened, you know,

106
00:04:43.555 --> 00:04:46.765
debates over in Australia and North America,

107
00:04:46.765 --> 00:04:48.325
or in Britain about history,

108
00:04:49.025 --> 00:04:52.205
the curriculum emerged in a very apolitical fashion.

109
00:04:52.705 --> 00:04:54.485
Um, there were criticisms from

110
00:04:54.995 --> 00:04:57.325
political parties about it being a little bit too

111
00:04:57.325 --> 00:05:00.605
post-colonial, a little bit too wokes or,

112
00:05:00.745 --> 00:05:02.885
or leftish, which is even very hard to see.

113
00:05:02.955 --> 00:05:04.845
There's very little labor history in here at all.

114
00:05:04.945 --> 00:05:07.845
But it went through. But point thing to make here is

115
00:05:07.845 --> 00:05:12.285
that went through at a time when Jacinda ER's star had risen

116
00:05:12.305 --> 00:05:13.565
and was, was at its peak.

117
00:05:13.945 --> 00:05:16.405
And New Zealand had gone through the first wave

118
00:05:16.425 --> 00:05:19.725
of covid very, very successfully, had managed to

119
00:05:20.395 --> 00:05:22.445
eliminate the first round of the virus.

120
00:05:22.945 --> 00:05:25.125
We were still cocooned,

121
00:05:25.505 --> 00:05:30.005
and the economy had survived and done reasonably well.

122
00:05:30.425 --> 00:05:32.565
So in a sense, I think one of the reasons why

123
00:05:32.565 --> 00:05:35.605
that curriculum was so relatively apolitical

124
00:05:35.825 --> 00:05:38.645
and yet relatively post-colonial, was

125
00:05:38.645 --> 00:05:39.885
because of when it happened.

126
00:05:40.265 --> 00:05:42.205
If that curriculum was being produced today,

127
00:05:42.365 --> 00:05:44.525
I don't think it would've had a hope in hell of being,

128
00:05:45.185 --> 00:05:47.725
of being recognized as the curriculum.

129
00:05:48.065 --> 00:05:51.485
And in fact, one of the political parties has called for one

130
00:05:51.485 --> 00:05:54.405
of the minor political parties, has called for a revision

131
00:05:54.405 --> 00:05:56.205
of the curriculum to make it more balanced.

132
00:05:56.705 --> 00:05:59.285
Um, but I would say even in the, you know,

133
00:05:59.285 --> 00:06:02.125
there are people on the edges of this debate, who,

134
00:06:02.385 --> 00:06:05.765
but the attack on, on New Zealand, on on an understanding

135
00:06:05.785 --> 00:06:09.045
of New Zealand's history is nowhere near as, as adamant

136
00:06:09.265 --> 00:06:11.965
or as virulent as we have overseas.

137
00:06:12.105 --> 00:06:16.205
So even the Act party, which is promoted, this revision

138
00:06:16.345 --> 00:06:19.245
of the curriculum is not saying that we shouldn't continue

139
00:06:19.265 --> 00:06:21.405
to reconcile the problems of our past.

140
00:06:21.515 --> 00:06:22.645
It's not saying that the things

141
00:06:22.645 --> 00:06:24.445
that happened in the past shouldn't be confronted

142
00:06:24.445 --> 00:06:25.765
and they shouldn't be treaty settlements.

143
00:06:26.185 --> 00:06:27.685
So in a sense, it's one of those things

144
00:06:27.685 --> 00:06:29.645
where we have a revisionist debate,

145
00:06:30.105 --> 00:06:32.965
but it's still much more accepting

146
00:06:33.185 --> 00:06:34.725
of New Zealand's colonial past

147
00:06:34.785 --> 00:06:37.005
and perhaps would be the case in Australia.

148
00:06:37.505 --> 00:06:39.005
Um, though things have changed there

149
00:06:39.065 --> 00:06:41.645
and changing there as well to some of that, you have

150
00:06:41.645 --> 00:06:43.405
to look at the process that was put in place

151
00:06:43.505 --> 00:06:44.685
to create this curriculum.

152
00:06:44.905 --> 00:06:47.885
And some of this is just a very technical

153
00:06:47.905 --> 00:06:49.605
or policy issues of, of

154
00:06:49.625 --> 00:06:52.285
how government the New Zealand deals with curriculum.

155
00:06:52.625 --> 00:06:57.045
As I said earlier, the curriculum that was model

156
00:06:57.065 --> 00:07:00.565
for curriculum that was established in the nineties came out

157
00:07:00.565 --> 00:07:05.205
of a very neoliberal idea about decentralizing education,

158
00:07:05.545 --> 00:07:08.165
giving a great more authority to schools

159
00:07:08.265 --> 00:07:10.845
and communities to determine their own curriculum.

160
00:07:11.065 --> 00:07:13.645
Now, or even though that might be regarded as sort

161
00:07:13.645 --> 00:07:16.125
of a neoliberal position, it was a view

162
00:07:16.125 --> 00:07:18.485
that was strongly appreciated by Maori

163
00:07:18.595 --> 00:07:22.325
because it gave the emphasis, you know, Maori are,

164
00:07:22.345 --> 00:07:23.725
are local, that iwi

165
00:07:23.725 --> 00:07:26.125
and hapu are the terms for tribal communities.

166
00:07:26.545 --> 00:07:27.565
At a local level,

167
00:07:27.695 --> 00:07:31.125
these communities can be in competition with each other.

168
00:07:31.555 --> 00:07:33.965
They have their own histories, their own identity,

169
00:07:34.305 --> 00:07:36.765
and they see a national history as often something

170
00:07:36.765 --> 00:07:38.125
that is not in their interests.

171
00:07:38.545 --> 00:07:43.085
So the idea of local control over curriculum sits well, both

172
00:07:43.275 --> 00:07:45.645
with, you know, sort of right wing ideas of

173
00:07:45.645 --> 00:07:46.845
how education should work,

174
00:07:47.305 --> 00:07:50.765
but also with how Maori understood how those ideas should.

175
00:07:50.905 --> 00:07:52.205
But at the same time,

176
00:07:52.795 --> 00:07:55.485
there's been a real concern about the lack

177
00:07:55.505 --> 00:07:59.445
of engagement at in schools with some of the more,

178
00:07:59.445 --> 00:08:00.845
what we call difficult histories.

179
00:08:00.935 --> 00:08:04.565
Those things about the colonial past that involve violence,

180
00:08:05.065 --> 00:08:07.805
particularly the wars of the 1860s.

181
00:08:07.945 --> 00:08:10.645
So in New Zealand, despite the Treaty of Wa Tangi, we had

182
00:08:10.645 --> 00:08:14.605
between 1869, 18 59, 60

183
00:08:15.105 --> 00:08:17.605
and 1872, a period of warfare

184
00:08:17.865 --> 00:08:19.565
and quite substantial warfare taking

185
00:08:19.565 --> 00:08:20.805
place in the central north island.

186
00:08:21.065 --> 00:08:25.285
Uh, the, the causes of the war involved both competition

187
00:08:25.545 --> 00:08:29.405
for the land insistence that Maori conformed

188
00:08:29.405 --> 00:08:31.645
to the sovereignty of the British crown.

189
00:08:31.985 --> 00:08:36.125
And I would put a very big impact of fact that in the 1850s,

190
00:08:37.025 --> 00:08:38.645
the settlers got their own parliament

191
00:08:38.665 --> 00:08:41.125
and that parliament excluded Maori,

192
00:08:41.125 --> 00:08:42.485
it had electoral laws,

193
00:08:42.485 --> 00:08:45.205
which basically said only those people

194
00:08:45.235 --> 00:08:48.085
with individualized property could vote.

195
00:08:48.425 --> 00:08:50.925
And that excluded Maori who had collective

196
00:08:51.605 --> 00:08:53.685
property ownership at that time, not at

197
00:08:53.685 --> 00:08:54.805
that time recognized title.

198
00:08:55.265 --> 00:08:58.725
So that shift in power has a major contribution to

199
00:08:58.725 --> 00:08:59.845
what happens in the war.

200
00:08:59.905 --> 00:09:02.165
And in the war. There are events that are controversial,

201
00:09:02.555 --> 00:09:05.005
obviously, and we talk these about

202
00:09:05.005 --> 00:09:06.125
these as difficult histories.

203
00:09:06.425 --> 00:09:09.565
We did some work with schools while the curriculum was being

204
00:09:09.965 --> 00:09:12.165
reconsidered, and we need to be really careful about

205
00:09:12.165 --> 00:09:14.085
what we mean by difficult histories

206
00:09:14.085 --> 00:09:17.845
because it appears that our young students,

207
00:09:18.455 --> 00:09:22.845
don't find anything difficult no matter how violent it is.

208
00:09:23.585 --> 00:09:26.285
So in a, in classrooms where students,

209
00:09:26.475 --> 00:09:30.245
because again, this is competition, history's not compulsory

210
00:09:30.265 --> 00:09:32.845
beyond social studies, earlier studies,

211
00:09:32.845 --> 00:09:36.045
and it tends to get lost in other aspects of social studies.

212
00:09:36.665 --> 00:09:38.845
And then once you get into the last three years of school,

213
00:09:38.845 --> 00:09:40.005
history is just an option.

214
00:09:40.345 --> 00:09:42.365
So his history, teachers have to get

215
00:09:43.805 --> 00:09:45.085
bums on seats, as we say.

216
00:09:45.625 --> 00:09:49.085
Um, and to do that, of course, they end to cover things

217
00:09:49.155 --> 00:09:51.125
that students want cover.

218
00:09:51.345 --> 00:09:54.725
So we have the Holocaust, world War I, world War ii,

219
00:09:55.475 --> 00:09:58.125
Vietnam, we have the Civil Rights Movement.

220
00:09:58.185 --> 00:10:01.325
So conflict is sort of the basis of what is taught

221
00:10:01.325 --> 00:10:03.125
because these teachers can choose things

222
00:10:03.125 --> 00:10:05.085
and they choose things that are gonna bring students in.

223
00:10:05.185 --> 00:10:07.045
Um, the only sort of topic

224
00:10:07.195 --> 00:10:10.525
that isn't particularly conflict related is suffrage.

225
00:10:10.805 --> 00:10:13.565
'cause New Zealand became the first country in 1893 to

226
00:10:13.625 --> 00:10:15.405
to have women voters.

227
00:10:15.985 --> 00:10:19.165
And in contrast to say Britain, it happened

228
00:10:19.165 --> 00:10:21.125
with very little conflict and no violence.

229
00:10:21.305 --> 00:10:23.045
So it was just a, you know, one of those things

230
00:10:23.045 --> 00:10:24.245
that happened in 1893.

231
00:10:25.025 --> 00:10:29.485
Um, so that's the one sort of what we saw, tame, topic.

232
00:10:30.265 --> 00:10:33.325
So by difficult histories, we don't mean violence,

233
00:10:34.025 --> 00:10:36.845
we mean conflict that resonates in the present.

234
00:10:37.305 --> 00:10:41.605
So conflict where contested histories understood at the

235
00:10:41.605 --> 00:10:46.085
present may make it very difficult for students to deal

236
00:10:46.205 --> 00:10:48.405
with each other or for teachers to deal

237
00:10:48.405 --> 00:10:50.045
with conflict about the present.

238
00:10:50.595 --> 00:10:54.725
This is the Black Lives Matter type issue or privilege.

239
00:10:54.975 --> 00:10:56.605
These sort of the other debates,

240
00:10:56.605 --> 00:10:58.685
they're not really about the past, they're about the pa

241
00:10:58.705 --> 00:11:02.245
how you pass, use the past ancestry in the present.

242
00:11:02.945 --> 00:11:07.645
So in a group of school, kids at OT High School,

243
00:11:07.705 --> 00:11:08.965
who lived very, very close

244
00:11:09.625 --> 00:11:14.085
to battle sites in 18 63, 64, went

245
00:11:14.085 --> 00:11:15.165
and visited those sites

246
00:11:15.185 --> 00:11:16.605
and were told stories about them

247
00:11:16.605 --> 00:11:18.245
that they had not heard at all at school,

248
00:11:18.515 --> 00:11:21.205
were completely unaware of these sites.

249
00:11:21.785 --> 00:11:26.045
So there was a push by those students, a petition.

250
00:11:26.425 --> 00:11:28.285
And that kind of initiates the debate.

251
00:11:28.435 --> 00:11:30.965
It's always been there, but brings it to the attention

252
00:11:30.985 --> 00:11:33.445
of government and leads step by step

253
00:11:33.705 --> 00:11:35.965
to Jacinda ER's announcement.

254
00:11:36.555 --> 00:11:39.445
When they took their Petition to Parliament, the Ministry

255
00:11:39.445 --> 00:11:42.565
of Education said, no, we don't really need to do this.

256
00:11:42.615 --> 00:11:44.405
We'll just provide some more resources.

257
00:11:45.065 --> 00:11:48.725
Not because they were opposed to this form of history, but

258
00:11:48.725 --> 00:11:52.005
because to actually prescribe what students need to know,

259
00:11:52.145 --> 00:11:54.165
ran against the whole tenor of

260
00:11:54.185 --> 00:11:56.725
how the curriculum was, was being rolled out.

261
00:11:57.185 --> 00:12:00.165
So we had a, a series of committees that were set up.

262
00:12:00.705 --> 00:12:02.645
And I think it's really important to understand that,

263
00:12:02.705 --> 00:12:05.005
you know, back in the 1980s

264
00:12:05.005 --> 00:12:07.125
and nineties when there was talk

265
00:12:07.225 --> 00:12:09.485
of putting New Zealand history into the curriculum,

266
00:12:10.105 --> 00:12:11.565
you know, the history academics

267
00:12:11.685 --> 00:12:13.365
and the history teachers got together

268
00:12:13.505 --> 00:12:17.165
and designed this comprehensive long curriculum.

269
00:12:17.385 --> 00:12:21.605
But in this case, the academics were very much,

270
00:12:21.675 --> 00:12:24.445
they were there, but very much on the sideline.

271
00:12:24.535 --> 00:12:27.885
There were a few academics in the process of, I I was one.

272
00:12:27.885 --> 00:12:31.085
In the process of the larger process of discussion,

273
00:12:31.215 --> 00:12:34.365
there were writing groups that were more teacher led

274
00:12:34.365 --> 00:12:36.285
and community led than academics,

275
00:12:36.285 --> 00:12:37.765
but there were some academics in them.

276
00:12:37.765 --> 00:12:40.485
But they tended to be history teacher academics rather than

277
00:12:40.775 --> 00:12:41.885
historians as such.

278
00:12:41.985 --> 00:12:44.765
And the ministry dealt with the academic side of it

279
00:12:44.945 --> 00:12:46.525
by getting the Royal Society

280
00:12:46.625 --> 00:12:50.525
and New Zealand to create a committee, a joint committee.

281
00:12:50.985 --> 00:12:54.885
And I co I co-chaired it to comment on the curriculum.

282
00:12:54.905 --> 00:12:58.365
So they, they kept that academic advice at a distance.

283
00:12:59.115 --> 00:13:02.365
When they released the draft, all hell broke loose

284
00:13:02.915 --> 00:13:06.965
because while the draft had a very strong bicultural

285
00:13:07.645 --> 00:13:10.805
colonial emphasis, almost everyone else was left out.

286
00:13:11.065 --> 00:13:12.485
So all of the other migrant groups

287
00:13:12.585 --> 00:13:14.685
and New Zealand is a country of migrants.

288
00:13:14.745 --> 00:13:17.325
Uh, we have one of the highest percentage

289
00:13:17.325 --> 00:13:20.125
of migrants in our population than anywhere else.

290
00:13:20.465 --> 00:13:23.765
Um, Auckland, our major city has around 40%

291
00:13:23.765 --> 00:13:26.085
of its population born outside of New Zealand.

292
00:13:26.385 --> 00:13:29.605
That's colossal transformation since the 1980s.

293
00:13:29.945 --> 00:13:31.045
And one of the main reasons

294
00:13:31.155 --> 00:13:34.005
that the spared down curriculum was presented is

295
00:13:34.005 --> 00:13:36.925
that the ministry just wanted to keep it as brief

296
00:13:36.945 --> 00:13:40.885
as possible, but in the consultation process, it had

297
00:13:40.885 --> 00:13:41.925
to expand it out

298
00:13:42.545 --> 00:13:46.205
and include much more of the group, you know, so

299
00:13:46.205 --> 00:13:48.445
that groups could see themselves in the curriculum

300
00:13:48.625 --> 00:13:50.245
who weren't necessarily Maori

301
00:13:50.245 --> 00:13:52.565
and weren't necessarily of European heritage,

302
00:13:52.655 --> 00:13:54.925
which were described to New Zealand as Pakeha.

303
00:13:55.585 --> 00:13:59.445
Um, so we ended up with a curriculum that was, pretty,

304
00:13:59.665 --> 00:14:00.805
pretty extensive.

305
00:14:01.425 --> 00:14:04.245
And I find that as one of the best things about it

306
00:14:04.245 --> 00:14:08.365
because if any student gets to understand about 20% of

307
00:14:08.365 --> 00:14:10.645
that in the 10 years of understanding it,

308
00:14:10.755 --> 00:14:13.285
they're gonna have a good grasp of New Zealand's history

309
00:14:13.285 --> 00:14:14.685
and maybe even world history

310
00:14:14.685 --> 00:14:16.485
because one of the big criticisms

311
00:14:16.485 --> 00:14:18.245
of if we focus just on New Zealand,

312
00:14:18.785 --> 00:14:20.485
how do we put New Zealand in the context

313
00:14:20.625 --> 00:14:21.885
of what's happening elsewhere?

314
00:14:22.065 --> 00:14:23.685
So all of those things for historians

315
00:14:23.685 --> 00:14:24.805
living in interesting times.

316
00:14:25.475 --> 00:14:29.725
Certainly the question that I've always asked,

317
00:14:29.905 --> 00:14:33.405
and always kind of been apprehensive about in New Zealand,

318
00:14:33.475 --> 00:14:35.885
it's gone a long way in the last 40 years,

319
00:14:36.145 --> 00:14:39.205
in recognizing Maori difference in

320
00:14:40.515 --> 00:14:44.645
just integrating Maori ways of doing things into the way

321
00:14:44.645 --> 00:14:46.165
that the public service operates

322
00:14:46.165 --> 00:14:47.405
and the way that schools operate.

323
00:14:47.405 --> 00:14:49.845
Things like or formal welcomes.

324
00:14:50.705 --> 00:14:55.565
Um, saying a prayer at the beginning of things,

325
00:14:55.635 --> 00:14:59.005
have just become taken not just from the Maori world,

326
00:14:59.005 --> 00:15:00.525
but they've been really incorporated.

327
00:15:01.145 --> 00:15:02.245
The amount of Maori words

328
00:15:02.275 --> 00:15:05.605
that have been integrated into our everyday language is,

329
00:15:05.945 --> 00:15:07.485
you know, hasn't occurred since

330
00:15:07.785 --> 00:15:09.005
the middle of the 19th century.

331
00:15:09.515 --> 00:15:11.405
This reintroduction of Maori words.

332
00:15:12.145 --> 00:15:15.035
Um, the treaty settlement process,

333
00:15:15.125 --> 00:15:18.515
which has created this strong, in many cases, not all

334
00:15:18.945 --> 00:15:21.355
because not enough money went to some groups,

335
00:15:21.575 --> 00:15:24.475
but those groups who got reasonably substantial amount

336
00:15:24.475 --> 00:15:28.355
of money have been able to use that, that core settlement

337
00:15:28.655 --> 00:15:30.595
to become major financial players

338
00:15:30.855 --> 00:15:33.315
and cultural players in their regions.

339
00:15:33.795 --> 00:15:36.355
I suppose that for me, I've been waiting for the backlash,

340
00:15:36.655 --> 00:15:37.875
you know, to occur

341
00:15:38.295 --> 00:15:40.995
and certainly in the last six months

342
00:15:41.105 --> 00:15:43.075
that backlash has certainly occurred

343
00:15:43.415 --> 00:15:44.795
and had political teeth,

344
00:15:45.015 --> 00:15:46.275
but it's still far too early

345
00:15:46.575 --> 00:15:48.475
to tell just where this is going.

346
00:15:48.855 --> 00:15:53.075
Uh, my feeling is that, I hate doing predictions.

347
00:15:53.245 --> 00:15:55.755
Historians shouldn't be prophets.

348
00:15:56.135 --> 00:15:59.755
Um, my feeling is that the more extreme parts

349
00:15:59.815 --> 00:16:01.715
of this anti Maori agenda,

350
00:16:01.715 --> 00:16:04.755
because there is an anti Maori agenda out there, are going

351
00:16:05.075 --> 00:16:08.955
to be worked back by the National party who's the, you know,

352
00:16:08.955 --> 00:16:12.355
we have two main parties in New Zealand national and Labor.

353
00:16:13.105 --> 00:16:17.435
They are both considerably to the left of the Republicans

354
00:16:17.435 --> 00:16:19.235
and the Democrats in an American sense,

355
00:16:19.995 --> 00:16:24.395
probably much more like the British labor and, and,

356
00:16:24.395 --> 00:16:25.395
and conservative parties.

357
00:16:25.815 --> 00:16:28.755
But in fact, they have a consensus

358
00:16:28.755 --> 00:16:30.355
that we need a welfare state for instance.

359
00:16:30.355 --> 00:16:31.995
There's no, no question about that,

360
00:16:31.995 --> 00:16:33.355
that we should have a public health service

361
00:16:33.385 --> 00:16:35.035
that we've had since 1938.

362
00:16:35.695 --> 00:16:37.835
But there's also been a really strong consensus

363
00:16:37.845 --> 00:16:41.545
among those parties about recognition

364
00:16:41.545 --> 00:16:44.865
of New Zealand's colonial past, investigations

365
00:16:44.865 --> 00:16:46.905
of the Waitangi Tribunal into those histories.

366
00:16:47.885 --> 00:16:51.305
And the National Party has actually been more effective at

367
00:16:51.305 --> 00:16:52.825
signing treaty treaty settlements

368
00:16:52.825 --> 00:16:54.785
with Maori groups than has, you know,

369
00:16:54.785 --> 00:16:57.905
the supposedly more left wing, labor party

370
00:16:57.905 --> 00:17:00.225
that gets far more Maori votes than does national.

371
00:17:00.765 --> 00:17:04.825
So I think that the best aspect, one of the best aspects

372
00:17:04.825 --> 00:17:08.105
of New Zealand's treatment of this has been the consensus

373
00:17:08.755 --> 00:17:11.385
among the main parties that this is important,

374
00:17:11.575 --> 00:17:13.905
that Maori are important, that Maori need

375
00:17:13.905 --> 00:17:16.345
to be included in the mainstream life of the country.

376
00:17:17.625 --> 00:17:21.545
I don't think the current conflict over all of these things

377
00:17:22.205 --> 00:17:23.745
is going to escalate.

378
00:17:23.895 --> 00:17:25.265
Some things have been turned back,

379
00:17:25.485 --> 00:17:28.585
but I think quietly we'll see alternatives.

380
00:17:29.005 --> 00:17:31.065
So for instance, there was a Maori health authority

381
00:17:31.135 --> 00:17:35.305
established, which was accused, you know, we have a ministry

382
00:17:35.305 --> 00:17:36.385
of health and we have,

383
00:17:36.645 --> 00:17:40.185
and we had this Maori health authority both established

384
00:17:40.185 --> 00:17:41.825
and the Maori Health Authority was

385
00:17:41.825 --> 00:17:43.305
to give a major responsibility

386
00:17:43.485 --> 00:17:45.185
and a degree of autonomy in dealing

387
00:17:45.185 --> 00:17:46.265
with Maori health issues.

388
00:17:46.785 --> 00:17:49.920
'cause as in most colonial post-colonial societies,

389
00:17:50.175 --> 00:17:51.325
Maori life expectancy

390
00:17:51.325 --> 00:17:54.325
and morbidity rates are far worse than the rest

391
00:17:54.325 --> 00:17:56.525
of the population that was seen

392
00:17:56.525 --> 00:17:58.965
as separatism accused of being apartheid.

393
00:17:59.465 --> 00:18:01.205
Uh, and as part of the coalition agreement,

394
00:18:01.275 --> 00:18:03.165
that has been taken away,

395
00:18:03.945 --> 00:18:06.245
but I would expect that the current government will still

396
00:18:06.645 --> 00:18:10.325
continue to fund Maori health providers will continue to,

397
00:18:10.545 --> 00:18:13.245
you know, along the general path, just not

398
00:18:13.245 --> 00:18:15.205
with this particular authority.

399
00:18:16.025 --> 00:18:19.405
But again, as a historian, we should be really wary about.

Quick Answers

New Zealand's Colonial Legacy and Māori Reclamation

00:00:00 - New Zealand is a debt colonial society. It became part of the British Empire in 1840. Most significant aspect of that is it became part of the British Empire at a time of, great concern about the impact of colonization on indigenous people. So it came, the initial part of the inclusion of, of, of New Zealand and the Empire was the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which was a treaty with all, not all tribes signed it. There, very substantial number of, of leading chiefs throughout the country signed this treaty,
00:00:35 - of their chiefly authority, particularly over land. And much of our history has been a history of how this treaty was broken, reinterpreted, and certainly broken. And over the last 35, 40 years, or now nearly 50 years, we've had something called the Yang Tribunal. And we've had processes of, of kind of investigation of, of New Zealand's colonial past since 1985. And more recently we've had treaty settlements. So the general process over the last 30
00:01:09 - and its impact on New Zealand and to also reestablish Maori as a living central part of New Zealand life. And you use Thero to describe New Zealand was given a name by the Dutch for heaven's sake. And more recently people have started to use the term rro, which has become politically controversial, both alongside Aro New Zealand. I've got a book coming out where I will use the term, it's a relatively recent term for the country.
00:01:37 - but doing so is recognized something we call Biculturalism, which is the increasing importance of New Zealand, of Maori and New Zealand life. So things like language, art, music, a revival of Maori language, which has been given a priority by Maori since the 1980s, means that Maori are much more central to New Zealand's life. Treaty settlements have given Maori a much stronger place in the economy with very large organizations in some parts
00:02:07 - player in their regions. However, over the last three or four years we've had in the general post covid angst that most countries have suffered. We've had the beginnings of a backlash. And we've seen in the last election, a coalition government emerge in a, we have a mixed member proportional representation system, MMP, and to get elected, the center right National Party has had to do deals with two more on the edge minority parties, both
00:02:39 - which its opponents say is an anti anti Maori, but certainly to put the brakes on some of that direction. So things like government departments had Maori names first and then English names. So then under the new thing, the English names are gonna go back again because everyone understand the English names like MOT the acronyms are supposedly meaningful in English and not Maori. So subtle changes, changes in interpreting the Treaty of Wang have been suggested by one in one extreme position.

Revising New Zealand's Colonial History Curriculum

00:03:08 - Yeah, that's where we are, like everywhere else in the world. It's getting really confused. This is, it's important to locate just when and how this came about. Obviously with this, we've had this, you know, reconsideration of colonization and there's been a move over a long period of time in 30 or 40 years to include much more New Zealand history and particularly history about colonization in New Zealand in the school curriculum. But we've had a curriculum since the 1990s where schools really determine what teachers
00:03:41 - And there's been a major concern that key parts of New Zealand's history, like the New Zealand wars that were fought in the 1860s are not being taught. And the ministry of Ed did not want to bring in this form of curriculum because it, it ran against how the curriculum worked. But the Prime Minister in 2019, Jacinda Dern really initiated, she said, we're gonna have a new curriculum. We're gonna put New Zealand history at the center of it.
00:04:13 - But at the beginning of last year, we had the introduction of the new curriculum, and that curriculum was established. And it is a post-colonial curriculum. I mean, it does take, make Maori history, the center of New Zealand's history, and it does deal head on with colonization, which doesn't mean that some Maori haven't criticized it for not focusing even more strongly on, on, on Maori centered history.
00:04:43 - debates over in Australia and North America, or in Britain about history, the curriculum emerged in a very apolitical fashion. there were criticisms from political parties about it being a little bit too post-colonial, a little bit too wokes or, or leftish, which is even very hard to see. There's very little labor history in here at all. But it went through. But point thing to make here is that went through at a time when Jacinda 's star had risen
00:05:13 - And New Zealand had gone through the first wave of covid very, very successfully, had managed to eliminate the first round of the virus. We were still cocooned, and the economy had survived and done reasonably well. So in a sense, I think one of the reasons why that curriculum was so relatively apolitical and yet relatively post-colonial, was because of when it happened. If that curriculum was being produced today,
00:05:45 - of being recognized as the curriculum. And in fact, one of the political parties has called for one of the minor political parties, has called for a revision of the curriculum to make it more balanced. but I would say even in the, you know, there are people on the edges of this debate, who, but the attack on, on New Zealand, on on an understanding of New Zealand's history is nowhere near as, as adamant or as virulent as we have overseas. So even the Act party, which is promoted, this revision

Revisiting New Zealand's Colonial Education History

00:06:19 - to reconcile the problems of our past. It's not saying that the things that happened in the past shouldn't be confronted and they shouldn't be treaty settlements. So in a sense, it's one of those things where we have a revisionist debate, but it's still much more accepting of New Zealand's colonial past and perhaps would be the case in Australia. though things have changed there and changing there as well to some of that, you have to look at the process that was put in place to create this curriculum. And some of this is just a very technical
00:06:49 - how government the New Zealand deals with curriculum. As I said earlier, the curriculum that was model for curriculum that was established in the nineties came out of a very neoliberal idea about decentralizing education, giving a great more authority to schools and communities to determine their own curriculum. Now, or even though that might be regarded as sort of a neoliberal position, it was a view that was strongly appreciated by Maori
00:07:22 - are local, that iwi and hapu are the terms for tribal communities. At a local level, these communities can be in competition with each other. They have their own histories, their own identity, and they see a national history as often something that is not in their interests. So the idea of local control over curriculum sits well, both with, you know, sort of right wing ideas of how education should work, but also with how Maori understood how those ideas should.
00:07:52 - there's been a real concern about the lack of engagement at in schools with some of the more, what we call difficult histories. Those things about the colonial past that involve violence, particularly the wars of the 1860s. So in New Zealand, despite the Treaty of Wa Tangi, we had between 1869, 18 59, 60 and 1872, a period of warfare and quite substantial warfare taking place in the central north island.
00:08:25 - for the land insistence that Maori conformed to the sovereignty of the British crown. And I would put a very big impact of fact that in the 1850s, the settlers got their own parliament and that parliament excluded Maori, it had electoral laws, which basically said only those people with individualized property could vote. And that excluded Maori who had collective
00:08:53 - that time recognized title. So that shift in power has a major contribution to what happens in the war. And in the war. There are events that are controversial, obviously, and we talk these about these as difficult histories. We did some work with schools while the curriculum was being reconsidered, and we need to be really careful about what we mean by difficult histories because it appears that our young students, don't find anything difficult no matter how violent it is.

Challenges in Teaching New Zealand History

00:09:26 - because again, this is competition, history's not compulsory beyond social studies, earlier studies, and it tends to get lost in other aspects of social studies. And then once you get into the last three years of school, history is just an option. So his history, teachers have to get bums on seats, as we say. and to do that, of course, they end to cover things that students want cover. So we have the Holocaust, world War I, world War ii,
00:09:58 - So conflict is sort of the basis of what is taught because these teachers can choose things and they choose things that are gonna bring students in. the only sort of topic that isn't particularly conflict related is suffrage. 'cause New Zealand became the first country in 1893 to to have women voters. And in contrast to say Britain, it happened with very little conflict and no violence. So it was just a, you know, one of those things that happened in 1893. so that's the one sort of what we saw, tame, topic.
00:10:34 - we mean conflict that resonates in the present. So conflict where contested histories understood at the present may make it very difficult for students to deal with each other or for teachers to deal with conflict about the present. This is the Black Lives Matter type issue or privilege. These sort of the other debates, they're not really about the past, they're about the pa how you pass, use the past ancestry in the present.
00:11:07 - who lived very, very close to battle sites in 18 63, 64, went and visited those sites and were told stories about them that they had not heard at all at school, were completely unaware of these sites. So there was a push by those students, a petition. And that kind of initiates the debate. It's always been there, but brings it to the attention of government and leads step by step
00:11:36 - When they took their Petition to Parliament, the Ministry of Education said, no, we don't really need to do this. We'll just provide some more resources. Not because they were opposed to this form of history, but because to actually prescribe what students need to know, ran against the whole tenor of how the curriculum was, was being rolled out. So we had a, a series of committees that were set up. And I think it's really important to understand that, you know, back in the 1980s
00:12:07 - of putting New Zealand history into the curriculum, you know, the history academics and the history teachers got together and designed this comprehensive long curriculum. But in this case, the academics were very much, they were there, but very much on the sideline. There were a few academics in the process of, I I was one. In the process of the larger process of discussion, there were writing groups that were more teacher led and community led than academics,

New Zealand's Evolving Bicultural Education Curriculum

00:12:37 - But they tended to be history teacher academics rather than historians as such. And the ministry dealt with the academic side of it by getting the Royal Society and New Zealand to create a committee, a joint committee. And I co I co-chaired it to comment on the curriculum. So they, they kept that academic advice at a distance. When they released the draft, all hell broke loose because while the draft had a very strong bicultural
00:13:11 - So all of the other migrant groups and New Zealand is a country of migrants. we have one of the highest percentage of migrants in our population than anywhere else. Auckland, our major city has around 40% of its population born outside of New Zealand. That's colossal transformation since the 1980s. And one of the main reasons that the spared down curriculum was presented is that the ministry just wanted to keep it as brief as possible, but in the consultation process, it had
00:13:42 - and include much more of the group, you know, so that groups could see themselves in the curriculum who weren't necessarily Maori and weren't necessarily of European heritage, which were described to New Zealand as Pakeha. so we ended up with a curriculum that was, pretty, pretty extensive. And I find that as one of the best things about it because if any student gets to understand about 20% of that in the 10 years of understanding it, they're gonna have a good grasp of New Zealand's history
00:14:14 - because one of the big criticisms of if we focus just on New Zealand, how do we put New Zealand in the context of what's happening elsewhere? So all of those things for historians living in interesting times. Certainly the question that I've always asked, and always kind of been apprehensive about in New Zealand, it's gone a long way in the last 40 years, in recognizing Maori difference in just integrating Maori ways of doing things into the way
00:14:46 - and the way that schools operate. Things like or formal welcomes. saying a prayer at the beginning of things, have just become taken not just from the Maori world, but they've been really incorporated. The amount of Maori words that have been integrated into our everyday language is, you know, hasn't occurred since the middle of the 19th century. This reintroduction of Maori words. the treaty settlement process,
00:15:18 - because not enough money went to some groups, but those groups who got reasonably substantial amount of money have been able to use that, that core settlement to become major financial players and cultural players in their regions. I suppose that for me, I've been waiting for the backlash, you know, to occur and certainly in the last six months that backlash has certainly occurred and had political teeth, but it's still far too early

Navigating New Zealand's Political Landscape on Māori Issues

00:15:48 - my feeling is that, I hate doing predictions. Historians shouldn't be prophets. my feeling is that the more extreme parts of this anti Maori agenda, because there is an anti Maori agenda out there, are going to be worked back by the National party who's the, you know, we have two main parties in New Zealand national and Labor. They are both considerably to the left of the Republicans
00:16:19 - probably much more like the British labor and, and, and conservative parties. But in fact, they have a consensus that we need a welfare state for instance. There's no, no question about that, that we should have a public health service that we've had since 1938. But there's also been a really strong consensus among those parties about recognition of New Zealand's colonial past, investigations of the Waitangi Tribunal into those histories.
00:16:51 - signing treaty treaty settlements with Maori groups than has, you know, the supposedly more left wing, labor party that gets far more Maori votes than does national. So I think that the best aspect, one of the best aspects of New Zealand's treatment of this has been the consensus among the main parties that this is important, that Maori are important, that Maori need to be included in the mainstream life of the country. I don't think the current conflict over all of these things
00:17:23 - Some things have been turned back, but I think quietly we'll see alternatives. So for instance, there was a Maori health authority established, which was accused, you know, we have a ministry of health and we have, and we had this Maori health authority both established and the Maori Health Authority was to give a major responsibility and a degree of autonomy in dealing with Maori health issues. 'cause as in most colonial post-colonial societies, Maori life expectancy and morbidity rates are far worse than the rest
00:18:16 - as separatism accused of being apartheid. and as part of the coalition agreement, that has been taken away, but I would expect that the current government will still continue to fund Maori health providers will continue to, you know, along the general path, just not with this particular authority. But again, as a historian, we should be really wary about.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Research

Policy

Analysis

Data

Originals

Explainers

Podcasts