UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AND EDUCATION

Unconscious bias and the education of Māori students
“Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have the right to all levels and forms of
education of the State without discrimination.” United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 14 (UN 2007).
Background/Introduction
Existing commentary on Māori performance in education has failed to account for the
impact of unconscious bias on Māori outcomes. The predominant focus has been on: the
negative impact of socio-economic disadvantage; the amount and quality of resources in
various areas of education; as well as cultural awareness training for teachers. While these
factors are certainly important we believe there is a clear link between bias and Māori
underachievement. Approaching the issue from a social-psychological perspective we posit
Māori children face significant barriers to achievement which stems from negative
stereotypes attached to Māori as a social group. We call for urgent and focussed attention
on developing, trialing and evaluating practical interventions for removing biases
throughout the New Zealand education system.
Here we compare Māori and African American children on educational outcomes to
demonstrate a strong and consistent pattern of disadvantage experienced by these two
populations. We believe that research and interventionist programmes designed to reduce
bias against African American children and adults can be adapted for use in a New Zealand
context.
Māori educational outcomes
Although New Zealand is home to many different ethnic groups, Māori are indigenous to
New Zealand (Cunningham, 2012) 1 and the New Zealand Government is obligated to
ensure that Māori rights to cultural, social and economic equality are promoted through the
work of all state institutions. If significant discrepancies between the well-being of Māori
and Pākehā exist, it is incumbent upon the government to reduce these inequities through
research, policy and practical interventions. Māori education has been recognised as a
priority area for government. Education is vital as it improves a population’s life choices,
widens the range of career options open to them, and allows them more control over their
lives (Henare et al., 2011). 2 3
The Ministry of Education holds various collections of statistical information, including data
on student participation and achievement, and sector performance across a range of
educational criteria. Marriot and Sim (2014) 4 have recently outlined key educational
performance gaps between Māori and non-Māori. These include:
A secondary school retention rate (to age 17) for Māori students of 50.6% (75.4% for
non-Māori);
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