Allan Alach – Education Should be Bigger Than Politics

Over the past three years there has been a torrent of articles criticising all the flaws in the government’s (i.e., Erica Stanford’s) education agenda. 

Many of these have come from the very knowledgeable educators in the Aotearoa Educators Collective. Those of you who read my posts will know that many of them have been based on articles posted on their substack.

The shallowness of Stanford’s agenda means that it has been easy for anyone with a skerrick of educational knowledge to shoot it down. 

However it has also been easy for her to sell it to the general public who don’t have the requisite understanding of education and so are influenced by appeals to emotions, especially fear of their children not receiving a good education. 

Targeting people’s emotions, especially concerns and worries, is a favoured tactic of the right. Nicky Hager discusses this in his Dirty Work book, p43, when he quotes American Republican Party Strategist David Horowitz::

‘For the great mass of the public casting a vote is not an intellectual choice, but a gut decision, based on impressions that may be superficial and premises that could be misguided. Political war is about evoking emotions that favour one’s goals. It is the ability to manipulate the public’s feelings in support of your agenda, while mobilising passions of fear and resentment against your opponent.’

 Stanford, Seymour, and the government as a whole, have followed this principle by targeting parents’ natural concerns that their children will receive a good education  and at the same time vilifying teachers and principals, and their organisations such as the NZEI, PPTA, and New Zealand Principals Federation. Professional capture and all that.

It is possible to have an education policy that promotes a positive view of the world, rather than the big stick pass or fail approach of the right parties. An ideal education policy should aim at taking education out of the political arena completely, so that it is not used every three years as a vote catcher. 

Why can’t we have a nationally agreed education system, as we had prior to 1990 and neoliberalism? Ever since then, the right wing parties have trotted out variations on the same theme of accountability/standards/reporting to parents and so on. 

The pattern is predictable and repetitive – the right get into power, impose their agenda which is not based on current educational research, it inevitably fails, a Labour led government is voted in and has to sort out the mess, then the cycle repeats.

To start this conversation and to try to get education out of politics, the Aotearoa Educators Collective has released their vision for the future of education.

Education: Bigger Than Politics

‘Our children deserve an education system that is ambitious without being ideological, coherent without being rigid, and accountable without losing sight of the human beings at its centre.

For too long, education policy in Aotearoa has swung between competing extremes. Educators hold on for dear life as we swing between more freedom then more prescription, knowledge vs skills, excellence vs equity, and national consistency vs local responsiveness. We don’t believe these are either/or choices – these should be the aspiration for the type of education system our tamariki disservice.’

Indeed. 

‘We’ve been intentionally selective – rather than creating an exhaustive list of policies, we are focusing on a small, vital set of ideas aligned directly against our five core aspirations for transformative change in education.

The Aotearoa Educators’ Collective is asking all political parties to commit to a measured middle ground: strong foundations and broad opportunities, clear national expectations and local responsiveness, professional trust and accountability, academic success and preparation for life.’

Yes, this is an excellent aim. Is there any reason why this couldn’t happen? Apart from political self interest of course…

‘1. Re-establish a bicultural curriculum – An education grounded in Aotearoa.

Why Aotearoa Should Care: Every child should understand the country they live in, its histories, cultures, and relationships. Te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori give all learners access to knowledge that is distinctive to Aotearoa while enabling Māori learners to see their identity, language, and culture genuinely reflected in their education. A bicultural curriculum strengthens belonging, critical thinking, and social cohesion.

What Government Could Do: Restore clear Te Tiriti commitments across education legislation, curriculum, and governance. Restore 2023 Te Mātaiaho as the foundation of the New Zealand Curriculum. Fund genuine partnerships with mana whenua alongside sustained teacher learning so local histories, te reo, tikanga, and mātauranga Māori are embedded meaningfully rather than added superficially.’

‘AEC Calls For: Restoring Māori knowledge alongside disciplinary and global knowledge, not one replacing the other.’

This is self evident and we as a country had made great strides over the decades, until the outgoing government threw it all away. 

I can already hear the exploding heads of the racists in National, New Zealand First and Act! 

Although if Nicky Hager is correct Seymour’s anti-Māori stance came about when he saw how much money and political mileage was available from this, rather than due to deeply held views. How cynical, shallow, and unprincipled is that?

‘2. Increase equity of outcomes – High expectations. Different support when it is needed.

Why Aotearoa Should Care: A child’s postcode, household income, ethnicity, disability, or learning needs should not determine how far they can go. Equity does not mean lowering expectations or giving everybody exactly the same thing – it means maintaining high expectations while making sure every learner has a genuine opportunity to reach them. Persistent differences in outcomes require system responses rather than simply blaming individual children, families, or teachers.

What Government Could Do: Create a National Learning Support Guarantee so families know what support their child can expect wherever they live, backed by sufficient specialist staffing and funding weighted towards need. Introduce an Equity Impact Test for major reforms, requiring curriculum and assessment changes to be piloted and their likely impact on Māori, Pacific, disabled, neurodivergent, rural, and economically disadvantaged learners made public. Invest in Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia | The Māori Education Strategy and the Action Plan for Pacific Education.

‘AEC Calls For: Individualised support that truly matches every child’s needs, rather than one-size-fits-all provision.’

But Erica says all brains learn the same….. 

We also know that Luxon has no regard for bottom feeders and inequities – ‘Cry me a river!”

3. Broaden the curriculum – Prepare young people for success, work, citizenship, and life.

Why Aotearoa Should Care: Literacy, numeracy, and disciplinary knowledge matter enormously. But our children will enter a world shaped by AI, technological disruption, environmental challenges, and changing workplaces. They will also need judgement, creativity, collaboration, adaptability, ethics, wellbeing, and the ability to turn knowledge into action. The OECD describes this broader purpose as education for human flourishing.

What Government Could Do: Guarantee every learner a broad curriculum that strengthens literacy and numeracy while protecting science, humanities, arts, technologies, health, physical education, and vocational learning. Strengthen rather than simply replace our senior qualification system, combining clearer national expectations and stronger moderation with multiple credible ways of demonstrating learning (examinations, practical work, portfolios, projects, and workplace/community learning). Protect space for exploration and pursuing passions, respecting the value of developing the whole person.

AEC Calls For: A balance of knowledge and capabilities, depth and breadth, academic and vocational success.’

 

The current knowledge based curriculum that is so dear to Erica is the antithesis of this. Education is far more than just competency in the basics of reading, writing and mathematics. A narrow curriculum results in narrow thinkers. Is that what we want?

‘4. Re-professionalise teachers – Trust and support great teachers to teach.

Why Aotearoa Should Care: Parents rightly expect teachers to be knowledgeable, skilled, and accountable. But teaching is complex work. The best teacher for your child needs enough professional expertise and judgement to respond to the learners actually sitting in front of them. Excessive autonomy can create inconsistency, while excessive prescription turns teaching into content coverage and constrains responsiveness. Professional trust supports collaboration, teacher wellbeing, and sustained improvement.

What Government Could Do: Restore genuinely profession-led teacher regulation, including meaningful elected teacher representation and professional independence in setting teaching standards and the professional code. Set clear national learning expectations while protecting professional judgement about how they are taught, backed by high-quality resources, sustained professional learning, and time for teachers to collaborate. Provide centrally funded paraprofessional (including teacher aide) career pathways.

AEC Calls For: Keeping checks and balances, but respecting and empowering teachers’ professionalism and skill.’

You will recall, of course, how Erica dismissed all elected teacher representation from the New Zealand Teachers Council and appointed her own lackeys in their place.

‘5. Build a shared understanding of education – Stop rebuilding the system every election.

Why Aotearoa Should Care: The purpose of education must go beyond test scores and attendance. Education influences opportunity, employment, wellbeing, citizenship, identity, social cohesion, and ultimately the kind of country we become. Parents and teachers need stability – constant reform consumes money and energy that could be spent improving learning. Education is a human right, a public good, and a shared responsibility.

What Government Could Do: Establish an independent statutory Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy Council, with genuine Māori partnership and representation from Pacific communities, educators, researchers, parents, learners, and communities. Give it responsibility for long-term curriculum and assessment stewardship through a transparent improvement cycle rather than repeated political resets. Develop a cross-party National Education Accord defining what education is for and the outcomes we collectively value.

AEC Calls For: Stability without stagnation and improvement without upheaval.’

This is possibly the most important of all. If such a body was established then all the preceding four recommendations would follow.  For the sake of current and future children, we must, as I have written many times, get politicians, regardless of party,  out of the provision of education.  If a cross party education accord was established then this would be achieved.

What is to stop this, apart from parties putting political self interest ahead of our children?

‘Help Us Put Education Above Politics

Real change happens when politicians hear directly from educators, parents, and communities who care about the future of learning in Aotearoa.

We need your voice to amplify these commitments:

• Download the Social Media Tile Pack Here

• Share them on social media (Facebook, Instagram,

• Tag local MPs, Education Spokespeople, and Candidates across all political parties in your posts to ask if they will commit to these five aspirations.

Let’s ensure education policy is built for long-term flourishing – not the next election cycle.’

Your children/grandchildren will thank you.

P.S. Recently I wrote about Stanford’s deviousness in holding back unfavourable reading test results.

Seems the situation is even more dire – the test results that she proclaimed proved the success of her introduction of structured reading were based on a sample of 14% of the nation’s primary schools. 

She must go!