NEW ZEALAND – Teachers’ unconscious biases and low expectations are hurting Maori children – and teachers need more support to deal with it, New Zealand educationalists say.

The study, Unconscious Bias and Education, has found the unconscious bias of teachers is affecting the performance of Maori students.

Researchers reviewed existing research to compare the effect low expectations have on Maori and African-American students in the United States.

Geneveine Wilson did well at school and is now the co-president of Victoria University’s Maori Student Association, Ngai Tauira.

She grew up and went to school in Gisborne and said teachers there focused on a few high achieving Maori students leaving the others behind.

She said most of the Maori students she knows at university were from Kura Kaupapa or Maori boarding schools – which “speaks for itself”.

“They’re quite different entirely because they have been taught that it’s great to be Maori and it’s great to succeed and this is what success in education looks like.

“They have had positive role modeling. Bias wouldn’t exist in an environment where being Maori is the most important.”

Once teachers know bias exists it is easier to put systems in place to help correct it, Wilson said.

“Acknowledging your own biases is always really good exercise – it’s about bringing it to the forefront.”

Wilson said there are also anecdotal experiences of people receiving different treatment depending on who you “hang out with” – for example if you are Maori hanging out with Pakeha you are more likely to receive better access to resources.

Post Primary Teachers Association president Angela Roberts wants to see a return to the Kotahitanga programme for teachers which ended in 2013.

“It provided professional development and an opportunity for teachers to collaborate, watch each other teach, challenge each other and it really helped us be quite frank and honest and shift the way we responded to our Maori students – it was dropped, because it was expensive.”

Roberts said the programme that replaced Kotahitanga was not as good.

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) echoes those views.

Its national president, Louise Green, said teachers never go into a classroom with the intention for students to fail.

But she said there is a need for facilitators and programmes to address unconscious bias.

The NZEI’s matua takawaenga, Laures Park, said it would help to have some quality and professional development when people could have their unconscious bias exposed in a nurturing and supportive way.

“Unconscious bias is the result of systemic issues arising from colonisation and structural racism, not simply an individuals’ bias, so blaming teachers alone for Maori underachievement is neither fair nor helpful.”

Park said everyone has an element of unconscious bias towards or against different ethnic or cultural groups.

“What we need is a professional learning environment that supports both teachers and students to challenge their own biases and work towards a more just society for all, and Maori in particular.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Education said its education strategy to realise Maori potential, known as Ka Hikitia, was seeing a shift in the participation and achievement rates of Maori students.

It said more Maori children were participating in early childhood education and more Maori students were achieving NCEA Level 2.

- RNZ