I have written this chapter because I believe I am a successful maori student at my school and have been mentored by many people. I want other maori youth to be aware that there are many opportunities for them out there. I encourage their families to tautoko (support) them. I encourage students not to be afraid to ask for help. By standing back you cannot move forward and it starts with whanau.

Please click here to read Ben's full chapter

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I am eighteen years old and while I was born in France, I will always think of Auckland New Zealand as home.

As a student with a disability I experimented with all support models in education and never found one that worked - the experience was a real battlefield. Contributing to this book has been a real privilege and I hope that it serves as a tool to open dialogue on tough issues because I don’t think that real change will happen without contributions from everyone.

This chapter marks the beginning of my journey to see collaborative education become a reality.

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My name is Kieran Denton; I’m year 11 at Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti in central Christchurch, a unique school where your timetable is created around your needs and wants whilst achieving NCEA at your own pace. I live just out of Darfield and travel in and out from school every day. I am actively involved with youth issues in my many communities which I love doing, as I have always loved helping others.

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My name is Maryam Khan and I am 18 years of age. I was born and raised in Auckland and I am currently a first year student at the University of Auckland, working towards a Bachelor of Science and Law conjoint degree. Having firsthand experience of the New Zealand schooling system, I was able to distinguish between some of the positives and negatives of previous and current school practices. I hope the issues which I have raised in my chapter are brought to the attention of decision makers for the benefit and improvement of our current education system.

“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.”

- John F. Kennedy

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William has just waved goodbye to school forever but he left on a high note having been the Head Boy of his year group. It was a role that changed the way he approached school and led him to write about the status of leadership education. William hopes schools listen up so they can create satisfied students like him.

The future television producer and Cabinet Minister is 18 and although he has to drive thirty minutes to see the Beehive, he proudly calls himself a Wellingtonian.

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I’m in my final year of schooling in Auckland and hope to study early childhood education at university next year.

I go to a school where success is framed as a positive payoff of "putting in the hard work". This is true in many cases, but I rarely hear it acknowledged that privilege and socioeconomic status also have an effect on the success many people achieve.

I wrote this piece so people could look at the discrepancies in achievement as a structural socioeconomic issue. I also want people to confront this issue directly, even though it may be uncomfortable to do so. Too often, people attribute failure to achieve as purely a consequence of "not trying", when looking beneath the surface will clearly tell you otherwise.

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At the start, I was not feeling too confident about this project and I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not. Now that it’s coming together, and seeing what everyone else is doing and how they are getting it done, I’m quite looking forward to the finished product.

Download Document: whakarongo-mai-listening-in-stories-from-the-inside-6.pdf

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