Better Relationships for Better Learning

School Activities and Interaction with Maori Parents

Schools reported enormous benefits from involving Māori parents and whānau in the day-to-day life of the school. As a direct consequence, parental support for their children's learning was increased. Later, initial contact often grew into greater parent participation in decisions about their children's education.

One of the biggest barriers is that parents don't see that they have a role in education. The school needs to help parents understand what they can do to help their children in the home. - primary school principal

There are many ways in which Māori parents can be brought into the school and welcomed as valued advisers and participants. Several schools run parent education courses and have made particular efforts to involve Māori parents. Many schools find that Māori parents respond very well to specific projects where their help is sought, such as fundraising, sports, marae trips, and building a school marae. Parent helpers can become crucial in strengthening relationships with Māori communities. At one Auckland school, the annual marae trip has become a major focus for the whole school and is strongly supported by Māori parents.

The following are some ways to increase Māori parents' participation. Many of these examples are relevant to all parents, but the schools emphasised that these approaches have been especially important in encouraging greater involvement of Māori parents.

Be "whānau friendly"

Parents' first impressions of the school are very important because these can determine whether a parent will want to participate. First contacts with trustees, teachers, and office staff must be positive and welcoming. Schools emphasised that parents must be made welcome in the school and classrooms, and many have an open door approach. One school's family-friendly policy acknowledges the important place that whānau have in their children's education. It states "Our kura is a family place that our school whānau and community will always feel they are welcome and comfortable within." The policy provides for young children to be made welcome in the school and for part-time positions for staff with family commitments.

One Wellington secondary school provides a family-friendly atmosphere by welcoming all parents of third formers to an induction day before the school year starts. The initiative has been well received by Māori parents. Another school runs a grandparents week, during which people are invited into the school for a meal and activities. There has been strong participation from whānau and kaumātua.

One effective way of helping Māori parents who feel shy is to identify individuals, such as a Māori teacher aid or teacher, who are available to help parents with queries and can support parents in talking to other teachers or the principal. One secondary school ensures that there is always someone available to see parents who come to the school with concerns rather than requiring them to make an appointment.

High roll turnover can make planning and consultation with parents difficult. Appointing a Māori person to liaise between the school and Māori parents has worked well for one Northland primary school that has a very high roll turnover. The liaison officer has helped to make Māori parents feel more comfortable and positive about the school.

Use the school's resources to enhance Māori parents' learning

Parent education courses often result in parents participating in other school activities. As well, the courses often have positive spin-offs for their children's learning.

Developing opportunities for parents to learn has been a very successful way of bringing Māori parents into one Rotorua primary school. The school runs te reo Māori classes and offers basic computer courses. It is also introducing training for parents as first teachers through the Pause, Prompt, Praise programme. Another school provides sessions for parents on reading to their children. These sessions are held from 2 pm to 3 pm to fit in with parents picking up their children after school. Māori parents who contributed to these guidelines also suggested that schools run literacy programmes for parents.

Organise social activities to bring Māori parents into the school

Consultation with Māori parents and whānau is often more effective when it goes on around social activities. Many schools run barbecues, potluck dinners, sports activities, and concerts. Some of these may be associated with a formal consultation exercise, but often informal consultation takes place at social gatherings, and this may be more effective.

Several schools have surveyed Māori parents to seek their views. This is never used as the only method of contact and is followed up with face-to-face contact. One South Island school has found a questionnaire to be an effective way of canvassing parents' views on the future direction of their whānau unit. In addition to the survey, the school had a potluck dinner to discuss the questionnaire. They got 80-100 people attending.

Find practical ways to help Māori parents to get to meetings

Some schools have identified reasons why Māori parents do not attend meetings and have developed ways of overcoming these. Providing childcare by organising a crèche or supervised activities for older children in conjunction with meetings is one way. Another way is to transport parents to and from meetings.

Identify the skills of Māori parents and whānau

Schools commented on the many skills Māori parents and whānau bring into the school, such as weaving, kapa haka, coaching sport, classroom support, and tutoring after-school programmes. Such skills have been used to enhance the activities developed in the school.

Several years ago, one college approached the local runanga to discuss a range of issues concerning Māori education. The following year, the school and the runanga launched the Tū Tangata Programme for at risk Māori students. The Māori community has obtained funding for the programme, which involves Māori parents and others from the community working alongside students in the classroom. Positive changes from the programme include a considerable drop in truancy, more parents in the school, second-chance education for parents, and informal opportunities for consultation. At another secondary school, the whānau group runs a free tutoring service two nights a week for students. The school supports this initiative with funding and a venue.

One North Island secondary school has set up a Māori youth forum for students to talk about issues of concern to them and generate solutions. Some kaumātua are involved, and the school hopes that the forum will help the school to link further with whānau.

Provide financial support for low-income parents

The costs of school activities can prevent Māori parents forming any connection with the school. Several schools provide lay-by schemes for uniform purchase and assistance with school trips. They believe that such help is important in getting Māori parents to feel more comfortable about being involved in school activities.

Several schools use the community wage to employ Māori parents as teacher aides and for other tasks around the school. This brings Māori parents into the school and, through them, helps the school to link with other parents. The school can also support professional development in the community by using the community wage, so encouraging local people to train for a career in teaching or school administration.

Schools rely on and greatly appreciate voluntary effort. One primary school has set up a "koha fund" to provide kaumātua and kuia with a petrol or some other type of voucher in appreciation of their efforts.

Improve how information is provided to Māori parents and whānau

Māori parents emphasised that schools need to get better at informing parents and whānau about school policies and procedures. Good information is essential for parents to make appropriate decisions about their children's education.

Often what is missing is information on simple matters. For example, parents are sometimes unclear about how secondary schools differ from primary schools in their expectations and requirements of students. Also, unfamiliar terms such as "curriculum" and "unit standards" need to be explained. As one parent said "Parents don't know about the system."

Other Māori parents questioned the way in which parent interviews are conducted and how information is given to parents about their children. There was a feeling that the venue for interviews can lack privacy and that little consideration is given to conducting the interview in a more Māori way.

When one Rotorua primary school was starting to develop its te reo Māori programme, it called a meeting with parents to explain the differences between bilingualism, partial immersion, and total immersion and to talk about research on the effects of Māori language teaching. Parents' feedback was that the meeting had been very useful in helping them to decide what they wanted for their children.