KEY POINTS:
Dr John Langley calls for an urgent public debate about the future role of schools and teachers, suggesting that parents are delegating too much to schools.
I agree that a different approach needs to be taken to the role of schools but I would take a different view to Dr Langley. Rather than isolate our schools as learning islands, we need to shape our schools as part of a whole-of-community framework of services to meet critical local needs.
This is reflected in the theme of the first Manukau Education Conference, to be held in April, titled Families and Communities.
The Government's Social Report says that in the year ended in June, 62 per cent of Maori and 50 per cent of Pacific Islanders aged 25 to 64 held a secondary school qualification above the School Certificate equivalent, compared with 79 per cent of European New Zealanders.
The 2001 Census shows that in the Mangere, Otara, Papatoetoe and Manurewa wards of Manukau City, those percentages are the equivalent of 37,365 working-age adults with no qualifications and 15,765 adults with only fifth-form qualifications.
In Otara and Manurewa, 43 per cent of all working-age adults have no qualifications. In Mangere the figure is 41 per cent and in Papatoetoe 40 per cent.
What could this mean for their children in our schools? In these four wards, there are 44,000 children attending school.
Research shows a clear correlation between the education of the adults in the family - especially the mother - and the educational achievement of children. To break inter-generational cycles of education underachievement in Manukau, schools could become agents of social change for whole families. We should be thinking about what added value Manukau children could have for their learning if we encourage parents into learning alongside them at those schools.
Just such an experiment has already taken place. The Manukau Family Literacy Programme has been offered over the past four years at two schools.
An evaluation of 80 adults who took part showed that 92 per cent achieved a qualification resulting in higher earning levels for the family - an average of $200 a week more - and significantly higher family aspirations. There is evidence of better education outcomes for their children.
More than that, the schools in the programme have shaped themselves as a place of learning for the whole family, with strong connections to their neighbourhood early childhood centres and to other social, health and cultural services in their community.
This does not turn the teachers in those schools into social workers or surrogate parents. Instead, it changes the learning process into a shared process with families.
The Children's Commissioner has called for a more integrated approach to support for children. We are exploring what this could mean for schools.
One approach suggested by the commissioner is to see schools as family services centres. Behind this idea is the understanding, based on research evidence, that to support children we need to support their families.
The challenge in Manukau is to ensure that Ministry of Education investment in buildings and teaching services, and the involvement of Counties Manukau District Health, and health workers and, incidentally, social and youth workers, are effectively co-ordinated to best meet the needs of the community.
This is a complex challenge. But there is evidence that the returns on investment could be important. PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that for every one dollar spent on the Manukau Family Literacy Programme, there was a return of $9.41 in value. This was because of the integrated approach to learning for both adults and children, and the enhanced longer-term outcomes that resulted - including a reduction in family poverty.
Dr Langley suggests that parenting and teaching should be in separate domains.
I would argue that schools are a learning resource for the whole community. Since the learning of parents is particularly relevant to student achievement and community wellbeing, in some parts of Manukau City we should more carefully consider the role the school plays.
Providing toothbrushes at school is not scandalous. It's a sensible approach to containing future health-dollar spending. Providing full-service schools in areas of need is smart thinking from the Government about the use of taxpayer dollars.
There is a clear correlation between domestic violence and crime with education and poverty. Poorly educated adults don't willingly go back to school.
However, providing foundation education for adults alongside their children in schools is a multi-generational approach to parenting needs and family economic improvement. Children are much better off as a result.
* Bernardine Vester is chief executive for the City of Manukau Education Trust. The Manukau Education Conference is on April 26 to 28.
