Streaming in Aotearoa schools: Helpful, harmful, or not that important?
Last year, I was thinking back to a time that I was in an accelerated class in year 10 that I really enjoyed. I had assumed that we took the same course as the rest of my year, just a year early. However, many of those who were not in the accelerated class took different standards and so did not have the prerequisites to continue in the subject, possibly affecting university and career choices. Very few boys in that accelerated class were Māori.
This made me think about the equity of streaming. From my Māori class, Kura Reo I have attended at Ōtakou marae, and participation at Ngā Manu Kōrero, I am starting to understand the meaning of Te Tirīti and what our obligations are as a country in terms of equity in education (ōritetanga) and how every person should be able to realise their full potential in education.
Why does streaming occur in Aotearoa schools and what are the implications of this?
According to a report published by the PPTA (2022) in Aotearoa, streaming - whether labelled that or not - has been around as long as Western education itself. The first mission school in New Zealand was built in 1816 and schooling was taught in Te Reo Māori. Before this, according to Kōkirihia (the 2023 report by Kāi Tahu against streaming in Aotearoa), Māori were “prolific writers, historians, and political commentators and were proportionately more literate”. Kokirihia states that when Māori were given the tools and equitable education that they deserved, they excelled. However, in 1862, reports said that “a refined education or high mental culture” would be inappropriate for Māori because “they are better calculated by nature to get their living by manual than by mental labour.” According to the Director of Education 1930, education “should lead the Māori lad to be a good farmer and the Māori girl to be a good farmer’s wife.”
So, you can see that inequitable streaming has a long history in Aotearoa. Kōkirihia reports that streaming is continuing to damage Māori and their academic abilities, and therefore their career potential. This is done by incorrectly placing Māori into bottom groups and classes based on perceived ability, damaging self-esteem and mana, and limiting career pathways. In a publication by NZQA (2022), data shows that just under half of Pākeha achieve NCEA level 3 and gain University Entrance, but less than a quarter of Māori do. Māori are also more than twice as likely to leave school at the end of Year 11 than NZ Europeans. The PPTA report and Kōkirihia report are clear that being in a low stream shuts doors to many learning and employment pathways, and sometimes students and whānau don’t know this until it’s too late. Streaming diminishes the mana of students in low streams because they don’t see themselves as academically able, teacher expectations are often low, and the stigma of belonging to an “underclass” can remain for life. If these impacts on Māori persist, it is stated in Kōkirihia that the lack of opportunities in school for Māori will directly negatively impact our workforce and therefore, our economy.
However, some studies from New Zealand and overseas indicate that there is a small cohort of students for whom streaming is beneficial. An article published in 2023 by Rosemary Cathcart (Director of Aotearoa Gifted NZ, former founding director of George Parkyn Centre & One Day School, and former national president & honorary life member of the NZAGC) is based on studies that show that streaming “gifted kids” by putting them in classes with people who have like minds (grouping gifted learners together) is beneficial to their achievement and self-confidence.
I never assumed that streaming could be harmful as it has always benefitted me and my academic journey. Although this may be precisely the problem, because as a Pākeha boy at a decile 10 school, I have been given the opportunities and privilege of being able to take advantage of streaming without any deficit assumptions due to cultural stereotyping. This research has made me think about how my previous assumption that streaming was beneficial was incorrect as streaming continues to damage many Māori learning aspirations in Aotearoa.
How does streaming contribute to equitable outcomes for learners in Aotearoa, upholding Te Tirīti o Waitangi obligations?
The issue with streaming in Aotearoa is that, according to Kōkirihia, it is inequitable, with Māori being placed in lower sets based purely on deficit assumptions and not academic ability. This means that as Tau Iwi, we are not upholding our side of Te Tirīti. PPTA state that they will “affirm and advance Te Tiriti O Waitangi, and this means we have a particular responsibility to show leadership in responding to practices that are preventing rangatahi Māori from achieving their full potential.” This is why PPTA are so passionate about banning streaming as it does not fit their values. Te Tirīti has four main articles, one of which is ōritetanga. In The Treaty of Waitangi, it states “In consideration thereof Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.” This means that all Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand should have equal rights (ōritetanga). In this instance, the question is, do Māori have equal rights? Does streaming uphold the Tirīti principle of ōritetanga (equity)? The PPTA are stating their concern that this article of the Treaty is not being upheld.
I asked the two questions above assuming that the answers would be different. However, I found that the answers are similar, which leads me to think that there must be a strong connection between Te Tirīti and the inequities of streaming. It has made me reconsider my views on how streaming works and it makes me wonder what other parts of school systems might not uphold Te Tirīti principles. If Māori are made to leave their culture “by the door” I imagine that achieving highly is much more difficult. I’ve never had to leave my culture by the door when I go to school as a Pākeha boy, and I don’t think that this is something we often think about. We need to think about the way that we uphold ōritetanga in schools, which includes the practice of streaming.
To what extent is streaming responsible for learning outcomes, compared to other factors that might be affecting outcomes?
Many of the main sources I used cited research done by John Hattie on factors that may affect a child’s academic performance, and by how much. Hattie puts a value on the effect of each variable on the children’s academic success. Streaming has a value of 0.12, meaning that it positively affects academic success by a very small amount.
All sources agree that high expectations and quality of teaching are the most important and impactful variables in the academic success of a child. John Hattie gave teacher efficacy the highest value of all: a 1.57, meaning that it is the variable that positively affects children’s outcomes the most.
According to the research conducted by Rosemary Cathcart, grouping gifted kids together is beneficial to their learning.
However, although she believes that streaming is a beneficial thing for gifted students, Cathcart also states that there are other factors that must be taken into account in order for streaming to be effective, such as putting gifted children with “teachers with genuine understanding and insight”. This shows her knowledge that quality of teaching and other factors similar are of utmost importance to the success of children in school.
Even though the articles above are opposing in their views on streaming, all of them agree on the fact that teacher relationships and high expectations are of the utmost importance if a student is going to succeed at school. Therefore I can see that we need to look at not just where children are taught (streamed or not) but also how they are taught (teacher expectations and good relationships, including culturally sustaining relationships with whānau). If we ban streaming but teacher expectations of Māori students are still low, then banning streaming on its own might well have minimal effect.
Is there a clear answer here?
This debate has many faces, including trying to better understand my own bias (being unaware of a Māori perspective on streaming). However, I can only come to the conclusion that the MoE also came to: that streaming in Aotearoa schools is harmful and should be banned by 2030, so that the ongoing effects of colonisation through incorrectly streaming Māori students can be stopped. There is a quote often attributed to Tā Mason Durie that says “what is good for Māori, is good for everybody. But what is good for everybody is not necessarily good for Māori.” Working towards ōritetanga and meeting our Tirīti obligations will help everybody, including Māori. However, we need to make sure that gifted children, who have been shown to benefit from being together, are also catered for. The different perspectives are still disconnected, and there needs to be a kōrero between them all so that equitable outcomes are available to all children.
References
Cathcart, R. (2023). Grouping vs Streaming? Good/bad? Same/different? Needed/unnecessary? TKI Gifted education mailing list.
Education Counts. (2021, December). He Whakaaro: Does streaming work? A review of the evidence. Education Counts. https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/he-whakaaro-does-streaming-work-a-review-of-the-evidence
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. INSPIRASI Foundation. https://inspirasifoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/John-Hattie-Visible-Learning_-A-synthesis-of-over-800-meta-analyses-relating-to-achievement-2008.pdf
NZQA. (2022, June). NCEA pathways through Senior Secondary: Achieving equitable outcomes for ākonga Māori and Pacific students on their NCEA journey. NZQA. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www2.nzqa.govt.nz_assets_About-2Dus_Publications_Insights-2Dpapers_NCEA-2Dpathways_NZQA-2DInsights-2DPaper-2DPathways.pdf&d=DwMFaQ&c=_Zm2Kb9yJrso4r0-N78Ezl-a6DfgMbIISn5tZXXqWk4&r=eWehsI0WrzuLzjs2F7d8-zmJ
PPTA Te Wehengarua. (2022, October 4). Ending streaming in Aotearoa. PPTA. https://www.ppta.org.nz/advice-and-issues/ending-streaming-in-aotearoa/
Tokona te Raki & Kāi Tahu. (2023, March 20). Kōkirihia. Tokona Te Raki. https://tokona-wp.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/12/Ko%CC%84kirihia-Final-1.pdf
Daniel O’Brien is a Year 12 student at John McGlashan College. He would like to tautoko Whaea Lizzie Clark, Matua Neihana Matiu, Mr Schaumann, Matua Beazley, Te Pae Māhuri, and the Senior boys Te Reo Māori rōpu.