New Zealand education : discipline< /title> </HEAD> <BODY TEXT="#FFFFFF" BGCOLOR="#4686c9" LINK="#FFff00" VLINK="#FF18ff" ALINK="#FFFF00"> <br> <br> <hr> <br> <br> <br> <br> <center><h1>New Zealand Education: Discipline</h1></center> <TABLE ALIGN=left BORDER=5 WIDTH="30%" bgcolor=##7f00ff" > <TR> <TD> <IMG SRC="/ebook/nzs/image/ed/dis/nzsp07cls.jpg"> <hr> <I>Figure 1.--There is a wide range of discipline standards in New Zealand schools The students in this well run private school class vary in their interest in the material, but there is no disruptive behavior. Often the importance of discipline is not well understood. The simple fact is that no matter how well a teacher is prepared in the subject matter, it will do little good unless he or she has control of the class.</I> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <p>Discipline standards at New Zealand schools have changed dramatically over the past generation. The rigid disciplie imposed by harsh corporal punishment has been replaced by more compasionate, modern methods. The private chools have been able to make the transition without a significant erosion of discipline standards. Many of the state schools, especially the state secondary schools have been less uccessful. Many scgools are now grapling with how to achieve acceptable discipline standards in an age where modern children are increasingly testing the boundaries of acceptable behavior. <br> <h2>Varying Discipline Standard</h2> <p>Discipline standards vary widely from school to school in New Zealand. <br> <h3>Private schools</h3> <p>Discipline is generally strict in most private schools. This is not to suggest a repressive atmosphere, but generally the teachers are clearly in control of their classes, the students are orderly and reasonably polite. Classroom disruptions are not tolerated in class rooms. In fairness to teachers in the public schools, private school teachers have a much easier task. The children come from families which attach great importance to education. In the relatively rare instances that a student proves to be a discipline problem, the headmaster simply asks the parents to remove the child. The discipline standards enforced as private schools is one of the factors that have caused private schools to report expanding rolls in recent years. (See "Private schools.") <br> <h3>Public schools</h3> <p>Discipline standards in state schools are much more diverse. Several academically oriented schools still have relatively strict discipline standards. Clearly standards at some schools, however, have declined in recent years. Severe discipline problems are not generally experienced in primary schools. Although schools drawing children from lower-income areas may find the children less well prepared to begin school and more difficult to control and get settled down for class work. Some secondary schools, however, face growing discipline problems. The school situation is nothing like the problem in some urban American schools where the students and teachers experience physical attacks even including shootings. Many American schools in the urban centers have police and security personnel assigned. At a local Washington, D.C. school a policeman was even attacked in 1994. The discipline problem in New Zealand is a different matter. While not yet a pervasive problem, even during our brief visits, we observed an alarming number of secondary teachers who were struggling with very difficult class room situations. This was not just a matter of schools in low-income areas. Such problems were observable in some of New Zealand's most highly regarded public schools. In a few instances teachers had to exert some efforts to get the children in class and seated to begin classes. We saw students being blatantly rude to some of their students and there appear to be no real consequences to such behavior. Some teachers were embarrassed to have us in their classroom. In other instances teachers were not having discipline problems, but were simply baby sitting students who were reading comic books or casually talking to each other. <br> <br> <TABLE ALIGN=right BORDER=5 WIDTH="40%" bgcolor=##7f00ff" > <TR> <TD> <b>Table 1.--Suspensions by Specified and Unspecified Periods</b> <hr> ……………………...<u>..........SUSPENSIONS..........</u><br> …………………....SPECIFIED*…..UNSPECIFIED <hr> ………………………..<u>........Individuals........</u> <UL> <LI>1991.................. 3,051 …….....….1,246 <LI>1992….....……. 3,487 ….....…….1,595 <LI>1993…….....…. 4,351 …….....….2,033 <LI>1994 ………......5,031 ….....…….2,460 <LI>1995 ….....…….5,931 .....……….2,919 </UL>* 1-3 days <hr> Source: Ministry of Education, <i>New Zealand Schools 1995. A Report on the Compulsory Schools Sector in New Zealand</i>. (MOE: Wellington, 1996) p.59 (Table 40). </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <h2>Increasing Discipline Problem</h2> <p>Many parents we spoke with expressed reservations about discipline standards in New Zealand schools. This was often mentiioned as a reason for choosing private schools for their children. This was especially true for those parents who did not asttend private school as children. Mimistry of Education (MOE) statistics tend to bear out a serious and growing problem. During the early 1990s in the space of 5 years, school suspensions more than doubled. Suspensions totaled only about 4,300 in 1991, but by 1995 had increased to about 9,000 (table 1). The large majority (around 90 percent) of all suspensions are from secondary schools. <br> <br> <TABLE ALIGN=left BORDER=5 WIDTH="45%" bgcolor=##7f00ff" > <TR> <TD> <b>Table 2--Suspensions by Ethnicity and Gender, 1995</b> <hr> ……ETHNICITY ………....…<u>.......GENDER......</u><br> ………………………………MALE ….FEMALE ….TOTAL <hr> ……………………………...<u>...........Percent...........</u> <UL><u>Specified period</u> <LI>European/Paheha ……….34.2 ……….11.9……….46.1 <LI>Maori ………...................26.6 ...…….10.9……….37.5 <LI>Pacific Islands ……….........7.0 .……….2.0……..….9.0 <LI>Other …….....................….5.6 ….…….1.8……..….7.4 <br> <LI>TOTAL …...............…….73.4 …...….26.6……....100.0 </UL> <UL><u>Unspecified period</u> <LI>European/Pakeha ……….31.0 ……….8.7……….39.7 <LI>Maori ……..................….32.5 …..….11.8……….44.3 <LI>Pacific Islands …........…….6.1 ……….1.8……..….7.9 <LI>Other ….....................…….5.9 ……….2.2…..…….8.1 <LI>TOTAL …...............…….75.5 ……....24.5……..100.0 </UL> <hr> Source: Ministry of Education, <i>New Zealand Schools 1995. A Report on the Compulsory Schools Sector in New Zealand</i>. (MOE: Wellington, 1996) p.59 (Table 41). </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <p>The discipline problem appears to be disproprtionally one with boys and minority youth. An analysis of the suspension data shows that nearly three fourths of those suspended were boys. While nearly have of the pupils suspended were Pakeha youth, the numbers of Maori and Pacific Island pupils suspended were out of all proportion to their relative proportion of the student body (table 2). Maoris make up 10 percent of all students enrolled, and Pacific Islanders 7 percent. <br> <h2>Factors Affecting Discipline</h2> <p>A variety of factors have affected the declining discipline standards: <br> <h3>Compulsory attendance</h3> <p>Discipline standards have been affected by the increasing success of the school system in getting a larger proportion of the school age population to pursue a secondary education. Some of the success has been due to a weak economy and bleak job prospects, but increasingly students seem to have concluded that they need better academic qualifications. The Government now requires students to remain in school until they are 16. A number of students, however, have no real desire to be in school and are simply marking time until they reach 16 and can finally leave school. Some schools have developed more effective programs than others in meeting the needs of these children. The increasing student population of low income students means that teachers face more students who lack the middle class attitudes and behavior. Many schools do not appear to be meeting the needs of these students. Some dowb play the importance of discipline. Even the beginning teacher after only a few day on the job will quickly appreciate the importance of discipline. The reason is simple. Unless you can control your classroom, there is no way you can teach--regardless of how well you know the subject matter. <br> <h3>Student attitudes</h3> <p>Contemporary students are clearly more willing to challenge teachers and staff. In many classroom situations this makes for more lively academic exchanges. In the every day running of the school, however, it has made it much more difficult to teach. Some students are simply rude to their teachers who have recourse only for the most extreme cases. Many students seem to have little respect for teachers and staff. We observed instances at virtually every school we visited. We watched one young lady at a Dunedin school who with her friends was ignoring a teacher's effort to get a class started, turn to the teacher and sarcastically ask, "Are you referring that comment to me?" At one well regarded Invergargill school the principal told one boy who was in the hall to get along to class. The boy virtually ignored him and seemed totally unconcerned. The principal had to stop and virtually escort the boy to class. One science teacher at a Christchurch school took a group of senior students to a near by stream to take bottom samples. Only a handful of the students paid the least attention to the activity. These were not isolated incidents, but were observed again and again at our school visits. <br> <h2>Parental Reaction</h2> <p>Descling discipline standards are not a phenomenon that have gone unoticed in New Zealand. Parents who never attended private schools as children and never anticipated sending their children to private schools are now considering independent education. The cost of private schools is a major impediment. Many parents who keep their children in state schools, do so because they simply cannot afford a private school education for their children. <br> <h2><a href="dis/nzeddism.html">Discipline Measures</a></h2> <p>New Zealand schools used to rely heavily on corporal punishment to maintain strict discipline standards. One headmaster described his school where entering third form boys were "beaten into shape." The use of corporal punishment in public schools was prohibited by law in 198[4??]. Many schools have adopted a variety of more humane discipline systems to replace the former reliance on corporal punishment. They have employed discipline approaches such as detentions or assigning jobs at dchool like picking up litter after school. These systems have been of varying effictiveness. Some schools simply do not seem to have yet developed effective alternative discipline systems to replace it. <br> <br> <br> <HR> <br> <br> <br> <h1>E-Mail: <a href="/ebook/email.html"><img src="/imagef/mail1.gif" align=left></a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <h2><center>Navigate the New Zealand Schools E-Book<br> <br> [Return to the <a href="nzed.html">Main New Zealand education page</a>]<br> [Return to the <a href="/ebook/nzs/nzshome.html">New Zealand School Home Page</a>]<br> [<a href="/ebook/nzs/cont.html">Contributions</a>] [<a href="/ebook/nzs/faq.html">FAQs</a>] [<a href="/ebook/nzs/app/app-glo.html">Glossaries</a>] [<a href="/ebook/nzs/intro.html">Introduction</a>] [<a href="/ebook/nzs/source.html">Sources</a>]<br> [<a href="/ebook/nzs/toc.html">Table of Contents</a>]<br> <br> <br> <hr> <br> <br> </body> </html>