Language Policy and Education in New Zealand and the South Pacific
The language situation in an area as extensive as the South Pacific region is, not surprisingly, characterised by its complexity and diversity.
Education, language decline and language revitalisation: The case of Maori in New Zealand
Abstract There is still some controversy in New Zealand as to the role schools have had in discouraging people from speaking Maori, and what influence schools might have on the revitalisation of Maori. This article overviews the present language situation and the development of the kohanga reo (language nests) and bilingual schooling. The empirical data were obtained from families included in the NZCER sociolinguistic surveys of communities throughout the North Island (1973–9) and some later follow‐up studies (1984–5; 1988). Particular attention is paid to information gathered on language preferences, the linguistic experiences of parents at home and at school, and the extent to which Maori was used in their households. The participation of these families in the kohanga reo and the attitudes of parents to bilingual education in English and Maori is also discussed. The reactions to and interpretations of the linguistic aspects of their own schooling as well as of their children's schooling are discussed an...
Religion and school
The report presents and argues in favor of the thesis that the secular school offers no alternative in modern society. Simultaneously, the author displays the basic contours of spiritual physiognomy of such a modern school which in many ways differs from the, school we know in this country. The school the author pleads for does not decide among various contents that influence forming of the young, within which the line is established between theism - atheism, but, on the contrary, pleads for the principle of humanistic education. The predominant here is the notion of methodological skepticism which marks the principle by which the process of education should be realized as though there were no God, or - which is on the same level - as though there were God. Out of this basic principle any others upon which the concept of modern secular school the author pleads for is established can be drawn. It ought not to neglect the rich, scientifically confirmed knowledge on the phenomenon of religion and atheism, which should be, presented in all school subjects where the contents allow for it as well as the Religious Culture should be introduced as a compulsory subject. By introducing this subject as a collection of knowledge on the phenomenon of the, religious, we would avoid imposing a particular religious culture as an attitude, behavior, belief and evaluation.