The history of New Zealand Education
I'm completing a series about ‘The History of New Zealand Education 1870s – 1970s’.
The series consists of:
A. RESEARCH REPORT 'An Historical Inquiry into New Zealand Education'
Read more
B. DOCUMENTARY LECTURE SERIES: HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND EDUCATION
Written and narrated by Professor Dame Elizabeth Rata
Produced by Guy Quartermain
https://www.youtube.com/@dameelizabethrata/videos
Why did New Zealand have one of the best education systems in the world from the 19th century to the 1970s? Why was that remarkable legacy deliberately dismantled? What can be done to restore quality education? Thirty-nine narrated episodes using historical documents and photos provide evidence to answer the first question in order to expose the second and solve the third.
The first three episodes were released on September 18th to be followed followed by an episode each following week on https://www.youtube.com/@dameelizabethrata
The history shows education's central role in building the nation. Providing universal knowledge to all children – Māori, European, and Asian heritage alike – created this modern nation. New Zealand didn't just come into existence. It had to be built – that required the vision of a people willing to be unified. The 1877 Education Act's bold declaration 'the People of New Zealand' captured that vision.
The school curriculum was the vision's building material – modern knowledge in the shared language of English. Liberal-democracy allows parents and communities to maintain their heritage but a unified nation's very existence, let alone its prosperity, needs commitment to unity's building blocks – shared knowledge and language.
I have written the history to show what was taught, how, and most significantly, why. Knowing the truth of our past is essential if we are to continue our founders' commitment to building a prosperous and unified nation.
CONTENTS
19TH CENTURY
Episode 1 Introduction to the History
Episode 2 Early Schools, Intermarriage, Nation-Building 1815-1877
Episode 3 A National Education System: Free, Compulsory, Secular
Episode 4 Secularism and Moral Instruction 1877-1899
Episode 5 School Property, Attendance, Discipline 1877-1899
Episode 6 Inspectors and the Examination System 1877-1899
Episode 7 English Content 1877-1899
Episode 8 English Skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking 1877-1899
Episode 9 Arithmetic 1877-1899
Episode 10 Science 1877-1899
Episode 11 Geography 1877-1899
Episode 12 History 1877-1899
Episode 13 Drill 1877-1899
Episode 14 Sewing, Needlework, Knitting 1877-1899
Episode 15 Drawing 1877-1899
Episode 16 Vocal Music 1877-1899
MĀORI EDUCATION
Episode 17 Māori Education 1816-1858
Episode 18 Native Village Schools
Episode 19 Intermarriage: A New People
Episode 20 Commitment to the Native Village Schools
Episode 20 Native Village Schools: An 1897 Portrait
Episode 21 English in the Native Village Schools
Episode 22 Native Village Schools Curriculum
Episode 23 Native School Education: Preparing for Citizenship
Episode 24 Teachers in the Native Village Schools
Episode 25 Māori Secondary Education 1800s-1940s
Episode 26 Māori Higher Education 1800s-1950s
20TH CENTURY
Episode 27 New Education Movement 1900-1949
Episode 28 Education and Citizenship 1900-1940s
Episode 29 English 1900-1949
Episode 30 Nature-Study and Science 1900-1949
Episode 31 Arithmetic 1900-1949
Episode 32 History 1900-1949
Episode 33 Geography 1900-1949
Episode 34 Music, Drawing, Craft 1900-1949
Episode 35 Health and Physical Education 1900-1949
Episode 36 Agriculture, Business, Manual 1900-1940s
Episode 37 Secondary Education 1900-1940s
Episode 38 Education's Decline – 1970s-2023
Episode 39 Education's Restoration – 2024
The research uses primary resources, including Annual Reports to Parliament, Chief Inspector Reports, and subject syllabuses, to provide an accurate and verifiable record of an education system that saw New Zealand rise to become a leader amongst OECD nations. The final two episodes explain the system’s decline from the 1970s and the current move to a knowledge-rich curriculum.
My aims are:
- To provide an accurate and reliable account of our nation's educational history.
- To restore the emphasis on subject knowledge and to improve curriculum design and to use contemporary cognitive science in connecting knowledge to children’s understanding.
- To show that throughout the 19th century and up to the 1970s, all New Zealanders, including Maori, colonial-descendants and more recent migrants, were committed to the New Zealand nation and to liberal democracy.
The research makes full use of this valuable archive –The Lilburne Rata Archive of New Zealand Education 1870s-1970s.
Read more
Previously I have written about the establishment of Kura Kaupapa Māori and my own participation in the movement’s foundation.
Government Kura Kaupapa Maori Working Group (Raglan, January 1989)
Back: Pem Bird, Govt recorder, Brian Joyce, Pita Sharples
Middle: K. Mataira, Tilly Reedy, Tuki Nepe, Cathy Dewes, Elizabeth Rata, Rahera Shortland
Front: Graham Smith, Katerina Mataira, Tony Waho
