Teachers have expressed racist views of their students, including one who told a researcher that he watched a police reality TV show and, "the suspects will always be Maori".
The views have saddened the president of a Maori principals' association, who says he is not surprised and such attitudes put students on a path to failure.
However, a teachers' union - while condemning the comments - says they come from a small study group and the vast majority of the profession work hard to address prejudice.
Hana Turner was shocked by the attitudes of some of the teachers she interviewed for a thesis looking at expectations for students' success.
Ms Turner surveyed teachers for her thesis "Teacher Expectations, Ethnicity and the Achievement Gap", part of a master of education degree at the University of Auckland.