Figure 1.--New Zealand parents and students have access to a wide range of state schools, including single gender and coed schools, small and large schools, as well as integrated schools with special characters like Catholic schools.
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Figure 1.--New Zealand parents and students have access to a wide range of state schools, including single gender and coed schools, small and large schools, as well as integrated schools with special characters like Catholic schools. |
An illustrated written account desribing New Zealand education and the different types of schools. We will post additional chapters as we complete the working drafts. Historic and current photographs will illustrate this section. The authors stress that the discussions here are not an attemp to address these very complex issues in a serious academic sense. We have attempted in include some basic background information to better understand the photographic images. More importantly, we have added comments by New Zealand teachers and students to provide a realistic assessment of their thoughts on their schools and education in general. These thoughts are often penetrating, sometimes completely misinformed, but always interesting and important to better understand New Zealand schools. We stress that the quotations selected are designed to provide a range of opinion and experience ny a wide range of ages, genders, abilitities, schools, and ethnicity. Feel free to comment on our drafts if you have insights to add or alternative views.
New Zealand's schools were influenced from the onset of the country's modern era by Engish attitudes toward education which were highly elists. Despite thus background and influenced of colonial administrators, New Zealand enbraced free public elementary education fromman early period. It was not until after World War II tha free public secondary education became widely available. Today New Zealand educators are grapling with the same difficult educational issues of other western democracies.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) in 1999 prepared a briefing for the incoming Minister. The briefing provides an excellent overview of the current status of New Zealand schools as viewed by MOE officials. These public reports provide interesting insights on the quality of education provided at different types of New Zealand schools.
