A community approach to ending streaming - Whanganui Iwi

The Whanganui iwi is doing amazing work focused on ending streaming in the schools in their takiwā – Poipoia kia Mōhio – an initiative led by Ngā Tai o te Awa Trust. 

What is different about their approach?

Poipoia kia Mōhio has community, whānau, hapū and iwi as its starting point. Putting this into practice has meant holding community wānanga to explore the whakapapa of streaming in their rohe – its history, exploring who it benefits, hearing stories from both young and old and asking what it might look and feel like if we did things differently. Their approach is one that “pitches the collectivism of te ao Māori against the individualism of our western education system.” 

From these wānanga, they came up with four common themes: 

1. Disempowerment: Students in lower streams felt labeled as dumb leading to low self-esteem and disengagement.
2. Low expectations: Teachers often have low expectations for Māori students
3. Cultural disconnect: Suppression of te reo Māori and Māori values creates alienation
4. Systemic bias: Streaming decisions are often unfair and lack transparency.

"Streaming locked me in the bad class" (Student)

For Ngā Tai o te Awa, the move away from streaming is not the end goal in itself – it is rather one significant milestone on the journey to well-being.