A
discussion came up the other week about the Tuākana/TAS program in my tutorial.
After discussing the program in detail, none of us could decide if the the
program was racist or not towards white and Māori students. After watching the
I, Too, Am Auckland video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYb0KmvPbDM), I
personally felt as if the department is not needed.Dot get me wrong, I can understand that it is
a place for Maori and Pacific students to feel as if they can go to a tutor to seek help,
but they could also go to the student help centre, where every other student
can go and get help.
Is it racist towards white people for not having a
particular learning centre for only them?
The TAS
program is also something I considered where students are allowed into
university when they have a grade below average because they believe that Māori have been diverted an education in high school. I feel as if all schools (these days) should
be teaching at the same level, so getting the grade you want for university, is
up to the student themselves.
I also understand trying to level out the racism
is a great thing, but are they doing this by creating a scheme for only
Māori/Pacific students?
Dennis Matene explains why it is allowed to gain
entrance and at one point says “because the government says so”. This felt as
if it wasn’t clearly explained as valid point as to why the students should be let
into university, when their grades were below average.
Don’t get
me wrong again, as soon as they start university, I understand we all do the same
tests and assignments, and their grades could be/are amazing. It only brings a
question to my attention as to why should we each be treated differently if we
are Māori or European.
I’d love to hear your thoughts below on this, and if we
should be treating this as a separate learning centre compared to the student
learning centre, and if TAS should be a foot in the door for grades below average.
I think you're focusing on the idea that like European or other students that Maori/Pacific students come into the education system at the same level as everyone else, which somehow puts them on a level playing field. Which it may be racist or stereotypical to assume so but most schools and home lives of these students aren't the same as other students who enroll so they need such targeted program so that it can actually be an equal academic process for everyone, both Maori/Pacific and others. I believe similar assistance or lower entry-grades or schlarship programmes are offered to those of low socio-economic environments, because they too don't have that same "equality" that most people who go into university do. So in order to truly make it a fair process these kind of schemes need to be available. At least that's what I believe is the thought behind Tuakana and such mentoring.
ReplyDeleteIs it racist towards white people for not having a particular learning centre for only them? ...
ReplyDeleteWhen you ask this question I can't help but think about other questions similarly asked such as... Is it racist that white people don't have a 'White History Month' (as of ‘Black History Month’)? Is it racist towards white people that they don't their own 'language week' (as of Maori language week)?
I will answer your question with the same answer I would give the rest of these questions.
No. It's not. In a sense what you are referring to is 'reverse racism'. Reverse racism does not exist. You suggest that being part of Tuakana/TAS Programme is an unfair advantage for Pacifc/Maori students, as if to say we had a ‘level playing field’ to begin with?
Also questioning if you had watched the rest of the video. As you seem to have highlighted Dennis Matene’s comment of “because the government says so” as your ‘explanation’ or ‘valid point’ from the video explaining why Pacific/Maori students should be let into university? While forgetting to acknowledge Dr Elana Taipapaki Curits who further explains that “we aren’t getting access, it’s because of an injustice that is happening in our second and primary education, in society, in poverty…everything packages up where Maori don’t succeed” or Khylee Quince’s experience that we as a minority have had “over 200 years of disposition, alienation, social economic deprivation, inequality which brings us to the standard we are at now”.
It just like you said, “you feel as if schools these days should be teaching at the same level”, and it is exactly that. We ‘feel and ‘wish’ schools are teaching at the same level, but the reality is that this is just not the case in our society today. What you are saying falls into this ‘meritocracy ideology’ that those who do well are rewarded and the ones who don’t do well are not, that the education system is fair and supports everyone. However, it is a system of inequality where people due to wealth and class have more of the opportunity to do better than others. And the matter of the fact is that white people are the majority percentage that are from higher class and wealthy environments; as opposed to Pacific and Maori who come from low socio-economic backgrounds.
As Dr Elana beautifully put, this department is “Restorative Justice”. It’s not giving Pacific and Maori people the advantage, but bringing it up to a level playing field.
As a polynesian student, this blog allows me to share what i believe the Tuakana programme exemplifies. To some people of different ethnicity they may see this programme as advantageous for Polynesian and Maori students. I have been brought up to believe that everyone is created equal, but society have other rules in place to make us believe otherwise. The Tuakana programme (fellow polnesian, maori students correct me if i am wrong) is to facilitate an environment where learning is on a level playing field in which students who share similarities in cultural upbringing can share their ideas and not having to feel ridiculed by what they bring to the table of knowledge. Some cultures have different ways in learning content, fostering a need to learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteI think within the university, especially for those who are not of Pasifika or Maori descent, there is a misunderstanding of what Tuakana and TAS are really about. We discussed in our tutorial today the term Strategic Essentialism, which is allocating opportunities for minorities and that's exactly what Tuakana and TAS do. These programmes not only create an environment for students of Pasifika and Maori descent to involve and apply their culture in their learning but also help to create this level playing field that not all of these students had coming into the university. During the week 2 lecture we watched a video called 'Diet Racism' and in the first scene a white guy asked "if there's a Black Entertainment Network, shouldn't there be a White Entertainment Network?" I immediately thought of a similar comparison made over and over again when peers ask where there isn't a Tuakana programme for white people.
ReplyDeleteTuakana and TAS are equity programmes needed in order to reach equality.
Well said, all above. We must also consider the learning environment of the university. Considering its history as a Victorian university, we are forced to learn and thrive in an institution that is geared to those with a Pakeha/European background. For many Māori and Pacific students, such pathways and support services as targeted admission schemes and Tuākana are instrumental in supporting them into an environment that is, largely or in part, foreign.
ReplyDeleteFor example, we may note a distinct lack of adherence to Tikanga Māori throughout the university; in the worst of cases we find many do not even know what tikanga is and how important these principles are to Māori. Through the teina/tuākana relationship, we are able to begin breaking down the Pakeha hegemony (for lack of a better word) of the university.
Speak to virtually anyone who has depended on the Tuākana programme, MAPAS, our Kaitakawaenga Māori or Pacific Equity Advisor and MPI champions (such as our own Suzanne), and I guarantee that they will reiterate how crucial the programme was in navigating what was certainly a difficult and daunting period in their life.
Indeed, there remains work to be done in challenging the perceptions of the support frameworks among the general population. I hope that these comments have offered some valuable points to change yours, Ellie. :)
As a New Zealand/Pākeha woman it is hard to comment on such matters without a fear of overlooking certain racial aspects that may not be apparent to me, and being deemed offensive.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I find this topic very interesting.
In my second week of psychology I walked in to my tutorial a little bit late, only to find that I was signed up to the Tuākana stream; a learning support system designed for Māori and Pacific Island students. When I asked my tutor whether I should stay, or move to a different tutorial, I was encouraged by my peers to stay.
I felt welcomed and accepted by the Tuākana community; the same community, or stream that others may deem unfair, exclusive, or even 'racist'.
I would like to highlight, as aforementioned that Tuākana is a support network that is designed to help a community, which often shares cultural values, practices and understandings. Historically, it is based on the concept of older (Tuākana) siblings supporting younger (teina) ones, and is an integral way of teaching and learning in Maori society.
As Joshua mentioned, traditionally the University of Auckland was dominated by Victorian societal values and norms. Many of the privileges and advantages were prescribed to white, western students. This is a classic example of the hierarchies and inequities caused by institutionalized racism, a system that still pervades and is used to control many aspects of modern society.
Statistically, Māori and Pacific Islanders are underrepresented and disadvantaged within many aspects of the social sphere. It is a social responsibility then, and a governmental/ institutional duty to improve access to education, amongst other areas to these often underprivileged groups, in order to regain equality and 'level the platform,' so every student has a fair chance at succeeding.
So, in response to the current query, of whether the Tuākana programme is 'racist or not,' the answer is no.
The Tuākana programme is not racist, or racially exclusive (from my personal experience) and it doesn't create a divide, as people from other ethnic groups have access to the same resources. I believe the Tuākana stream serves an important purpose, and is a liberating group that inspires change and challenges dominant norms and values, also enabling students to feel a sense of connectedness and shared community within the education system.
http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines/Teaching-and-learning-te-reo-Maori/Aspects-of-planning/The-concept-of-a-tuakana-teina-relationship
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/eo-equity-office/eo-tuakana.html