While the initiatives and systems were driven by colonial ambitions to protect and civilise the indigenous people through assimilation, and install a model of education based on European concepts of the purposes and delivery of learning, Māori actively engaged with the process to retain their traditional knowledge and language by participating in missions schools, contesting many aspects of Native schools and establishing Kura Kaupapa Māori.
[7] While the missionaries saw literacy as the way to teach the scriptures, Māori were said to have become "increasingly interested in learning to read and write...[and]... understanding the new European world with its tall sailing ships, firearms and iron tools".
[17] Paul Moon said the Act was an "assimilationist measure" by the government in response to pressure from missionaries to replace te reo Māori in schools with English.
[11]: pp 18–19 Historian Alan Ward said that while the Act continued the "ideas of racial and cultural superiority", there was an element of altruism in it being an attempt by the government to "develop a system of integrated, rather than segregated schooling based on race".
Pope's vision for the future of Māori education in the country was for the establishment of state schools, requiring Maori communities to contribute land and money toward their maintenance.
[24]: p.379 The Atmore Report, 1930 was an important landmark document, and many of the measures recommended in this were finally supported by the Labour Prime Minister Peter Fraser who pushed through major reforms in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Despite the core curriculum including literacy, numeracy, science, social studies, physical education and arts and crafts, it was argued that the practices of gender differentiation and streaming ran counter to the rhetoric of equality.
[24]: pp 379–380 A number of factors in the post-World War Two era challenged the goals of egalitarian educational opportunities and many students' experiences were still divided by class, race, gender, religion and geography.
[31] The Commission, chaired by George Currie, vice-Chancellor of the University of New Zealand at the time, was asked to "examine primary, secondary and technical education in relation to the present needs of the country", and after hearing five hundred submissions, eight areas of concern were identified.
[40][8]: p.194 A study in 1978 claimed that the areas covered by the Commission were "too extensive...too numerous...and beyond all financial resources to be of much practical value", but noted that almost a quarter of the recommendation in the Report "related to the recruitment, training and working conditions of teachers".
It encouraged more participation by parents and the wider community in educational decision-making and concluded that there were issues of alienation and frustration within the bureaucracy which they felt was "vast, ponderous and unresponsive, particularly to the special needs of women and girls, Maori and other minorities all of whom were gaining a new assertiveness in this period".
In their report, some of the key recommendations, which were effectively calls for devolution of the centralised system, suggested more involvement by parents in primary school committees and secondary boards of governors.
[48][49][42]: p.19 Politician Matiu Rata said he was surprised how smoothly the transition had happened without major criticism, but Hirini Mead who had taught in Native Schools said that the "wholesale transfer" to education board control "came as a shock and betrayal".
[66] In August 1988 the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand, published Tomorrow's Schools which accepted most of the recommendations of the Picot Report,[67][31] setting the changes into law with the Education Act 1989.
Jennifer Clarke, President of the Otago Primary Principals Association asked for a "robust trial of the National Standards to prove accuracy, credibility and positive impact on student achievement...[and that]...there is no school ranking lists".
Tolley said this group of schools represented a "vocal minority who were unhappy with National Standards", however New Zealand Principals' Federation President Ernie Buutveld said "there [was] a growing solidarity around the country to get a resolution the sector can live with.
[81] Academic critique of the rationale for the Standards included questioning why the Minister was focusing on literacy and numeracy when data suggested there were issues related to assessment in other areas of the curriculum.
[85] Parata said on 11 June 2013 that National Standards data showed some "concerning trends" including achievement being "significantly lower for Māori and Pasifika learners than for others" and boys trailing girls.
[100] This document established five objectives to meet the Taskforce's recommendations on the review of Tomorrow's schools: Learners at the Centre; Barrier free access; Quality teaching and leadership; future of learning and work; and World class inclusive public education.
[108] The associate Ministers of Education said the goal was make the curriculum "clearer, more relevant, easier to use, and more explicit about what learners need to understand, know and do...beginning with Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories in the Social Sciences learning area".
Dunne concluded that the curriculum refresh process: [needed] "to be broadly based and inclusive...[and avoid being]...captured and driven by education sector vested interests".
[110] The report from the Curriculum, Progress, and Achievement Ministerial Advisory Group (2019)[105] had specifically identified "focus areas for Māori medium and English medium settings which shaped the recommendations to Cabinet, including addressing aspects of trust and equity",[111] and in response, in September 2019, Chris Hipkins confirmed that "Aotearoa New Zealand's histories would be taught in all schools and kura from 2022...revised to 2023 to give schools and kura more time to engage with curriculum content".
[130] James Shaw, however, said it was important to deal honestly with the past; an academic noted the new approach as reflecting New Zealand had matured as a society; and the president of the Maori Principals' Association saw the curriculum as potentially transformational.
[128][136]: 23 [137] A process for feedback on the English and Mathematics & Statistics learning areas was confirmed on 28 September 2023 and schools were provided with a Curriculum and Assessment Forward Planner.
The authors raised concerns around a radicalized curriculum with "identity categorisation" based on the racial classification of children, and the danger of 'culturally responsive pedagogies' leading to stereotypical views about how Māori and Pasifika students learn.
The piece did, however, note that a summary from the Ministry of Education had concluded international data indicated: "New Zealand had one of the largest gaps between the highest and lowest-scoring students, who generally came from disadvantaged backgrounds, and this had not improved over time".
[146] The same article drew on information from a government paper, Preparing All Young People for Satisfying and Rewarding Working Lives: Long-Term Insights Briefing,[147] and provided an analysis of the positions and policies of each of the main political parties contesting the election.
[146] Early in the election campaign, Christopher Luxon released an education policy for the New Zealand National Party based on a proposed review of the curriculum and an increased focus on basic literacy and numeracy skills.
[148] He acknowledged the current government's Literacy and Communication and Maths Strategy[149] did not advocate a narrowing of the curriculum by focusing on foundational skills, but explained that the point of difference with the party's policy was in "tightening up the year bands".
[151] The president of New Zealand Educational Institute stated the union's position was to focus on addressing resourcing rather than increasing standards or curriculum changes, [creating] "more work for the teachers at the chalk face",[152] and an academic said National's policy was built on a "manufactured crisis...[referred to]...dated international league tables...[blamed]...failing schools and failing teachers...[and]...undoes much of an informal pact between National and Labour to depoliticise education at a time of genuine struggle".