Post by ComfortZone on Jun 1, 2024 17:54:09 GMT 12
Seems to be the buzz word these days. Copied the following from Kiwiblog to show how diversity "works" in NZ
www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/06/guest_post_diversity_in_nz.html
I’m a naturalized citizen in NZ. Meaning my kids are aware of and somewhat interested in their American heritage as well as their NZ history. So my daughter’s school was having a Diversity Day where students from different backgrounds were encouraged to show off parts of their culture. Parents were invited to see the event and explore what diverse cultures were at the school. My daughter decided that since most Kiwis are exposed to a huge amount of American culture on a routine basis she would team up with her friend from an Asian country to showcase her culture instead. They worked on a couple of ways to do this, demonstrating the writing and language as well as showing off clothing and some food. They worked hard on this over a few days.
So Diversity Day comes and the students who were doing projects such as my daughter were invited to set up stands in a couple of classrooms almost an hour and a half before the parents were supposed to be there. There were lots of cultures, Turkish, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, South African, Indian, Vietnamese, Maori, French and Russian. Then students from about half the classes in school were invited to tour around and explore the stalls and see what was there. 30 minutes later it was all done, students to clean up and go to workshops. No parents to see what had been worked on and what amazing things the children had done.
What did happen was the students were sent off to study diverse arts and crafts in workshops set up by the school and helpers. The workshops covered such a wide range of topics as various Maori arts and crafts, Kapa haka, Maori singing, Maori language, Maori cooking, Maori myths and history and then there was an Aboriginal face painting class. At the end of this time the students were ushered into the hall for the public celebration of Diversity by the school. This was a showcase of the range of diverse cultures made up of the school Kapa haka group, The Maori dance troup, the Kapa haka groups from 2 other schools and a Pasifika performing arts group performance.
My daughter came home in tears. She said she worked so hard on everything and it was all shoved aside to make room for more time for the same kapa haka groups that perform at every school function, every event and that get special showcases at the school once a term. Multiple students were upset over the fact that they didn’t get to show their parents how their stations looked and to show off to other parents as well. My daughter said she never wants to bother working on anything culture related at school again as this is a similar occurence to how the primary school dealt with the diversity situation.
As far as I’m concerned the school is working to alienate students and tell people from other cultures that they don’t matter, don’t count and that they will not be given the time to express themselves or showcase their varying culture or history within the NZ system. That as far as education is concerned there are 2 cultures: Maori, then everything else. While I want to emphasize the importance of promoting Maori culture as it is a uniquely NZ culture and worthy of preservation I find it hard to support the method of doing that by squashing and essentially insulting every other culture that has arrived here. I have faced similar culture disparities in various training classes and instructional environments but am able to deal with them in my own way as I was an adult before I moved here so will always have an element of ‘outsider’ to my thinking. To have that feeling put in to my daughter’s mind while she has lived her entire life here enrages me to a point I don’t want to think about. It reinforces the attitudes that I faced when I was told that it was acceptable for Maori students to not call me by my first name as English wasn’t their first language (spoiler: it was their first language) but that it was racist and I could be given written warnings if I got their names wrong despite attempting to learn Maori as my 4th language.
To all those who think any kind of monoculture can mean Diversity:
“You keep using that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
What a terrible message for the kids, and they wonder why so many people with some "get up and go" are doing just that, leaving NZ
www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/06/guest_post_diversity_in_nz.html
I’m a naturalized citizen in NZ. Meaning my kids are aware of and somewhat interested in their American heritage as well as their NZ history. So my daughter’s school was having a Diversity Day where students from different backgrounds were encouraged to show off parts of their culture. Parents were invited to see the event and explore what diverse cultures were at the school. My daughter decided that since most Kiwis are exposed to a huge amount of American culture on a routine basis she would team up with her friend from an Asian country to showcase her culture instead. They worked on a couple of ways to do this, demonstrating the writing and language as well as showing off clothing and some food. They worked hard on this over a few days.
So Diversity Day comes and the students who were doing projects such as my daughter were invited to set up stands in a couple of classrooms almost an hour and a half before the parents were supposed to be there. There were lots of cultures, Turkish, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, South African, Indian, Vietnamese, Maori, French and Russian. Then students from about half the classes in school were invited to tour around and explore the stalls and see what was there. 30 minutes later it was all done, students to clean up and go to workshops. No parents to see what had been worked on and what amazing things the children had done.
What did happen was the students were sent off to study diverse arts and crafts in workshops set up by the school and helpers. The workshops covered such a wide range of topics as various Maori arts and crafts, Kapa haka, Maori singing, Maori language, Maori cooking, Maori myths and history and then there was an Aboriginal face painting class. At the end of this time the students were ushered into the hall for the public celebration of Diversity by the school. This was a showcase of the range of diverse cultures made up of the school Kapa haka group, The Maori dance troup, the Kapa haka groups from 2 other schools and a Pasifika performing arts group performance.
My daughter came home in tears. She said she worked so hard on everything and it was all shoved aside to make room for more time for the same kapa haka groups that perform at every school function, every event and that get special showcases at the school once a term. Multiple students were upset over the fact that they didn’t get to show their parents how their stations looked and to show off to other parents as well. My daughter said she never wants to bother working on anything culture related at school again as this is a similar occurence to how the primary school dealt with the diversity situation.
As far as I’m concerned the school is working to alienate students and tell people from other cultures that they don’t matter, don’t count and that they will not be given the time to express themselves or showcase their varying culture or history within the NZ system. That as far as education is concerned there are 2 cultures: Maori, then everything else. While I want to emphasize the importance of promoting Maori culture as it is a uniquely NZ culture and worthy of preservation I find it hard to support the method of doing that by squashing and essentially insulting every other culture that has arrived here. I have faced similar culture disparities in various training classes and instructional environments but am able to deal with them in my own way as I was an adult before I moved here so will always have an element of ‘outsider’ to my thinking. To have that feeling put in to my daughter’s mind while she has lived her entire life here enrages me to a point I don’t want to think about. It reinforces the attitudes that I faced when I was told that it was acceptable for Maori students to not call me by my first name as English wasn’t their first language (spoiler: it was their first language) but that it was racist and I could be given written warnings if I got their names wrong despite attempting to learn Maori as my 4th language.
To all those who think any kind of monoculture can mean Diversity:
“You keep using that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
What a terrible message for the kids, and they wonder why so many people with some "get up and go" are doing just that, leaving NZ
