Māori experiencing NCEA success in visual arts

Posted on 28 November, 2016

A teacher’s story
In 2015, the Head of the Arts Faculty at Spotswood College saw that the NCEA Level 1 results of Māori girls indicated early signs of falling behind. He also noticed that Māori students were not including cultural iconography in their artwork.

The key question for his critical inquiry became ‘how can we ensure Māori students in Art are not leaving their culture at the school gate?’

He surveyed students to find what would help them learn in Art and identified they wanted more flexibility and choice in their learning. He describes that the way he previously taught was “teacher determined”, incorporating a “Western landscape” approach wherein everyone is expected to be the same.

He made a deliberate decision to invite students to choose their own subject matter and have greater input into the development of their artworks.

He found that not only were students better placed to incorporate their identity, language and culture into their artwork; he had more time to sit alongside each student to co-construct possible future directions. Asking each student to write a reflection sentence at the end of each lesson helped him keep on track with their thinking and planning.

The teacher, Leighton Upson, is proud that all the students in this focus group achieved NCEA Art Level 1 and are predicted to achieve NCEA Art Level 2 in 2016. He is now thinking about how to apply the learning from his inquiry at all levels of the curriculum.

A student's story
Cheyanne was a student in Mr Upson’s focus group. She talks about her painting ‘Te Oranga Nuku - My way of Life”.

“This sign here, the yin/yan, this represents my parents that shine the warmth and love over my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews.

So it’s more like a pathway of a journey to success and my career in life...where I want to go ... This is about my life, the things I’ve been through, but also the struggles I’ve had through this school, I’ve been through a lot and it reminds me not to give up on my education and my goals for success as a Māori student... [I want] to become an artist in all sorts of areas, like visual arts and digital media, which I am doing this year.

The principal, Mark Bowden, asks: “And what does it remind me to do Cheyanne?” and Cheyanne answers: “Never give up on the students.”