Latest news with #ReadytoReadPhonicsPlus
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
Authors call out Stanford's ‘racism'
Authors and key figures in New Zealand publishing have slammed government minister Erica Stanford's controversial decision to remove words in te reo Māori in new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. As reported by Radio New Zealand, a ministry document showed Stanford decided on the near-ban last October because she was worried five-year-olds would be confused by Māori words in the Education Ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. ReadingRoom reached out to 10 writers, publishers and booksellers for comment. Their response was not unanimous. Some were cautious in their replies, and some pointed to other, literacy-adjacent issues they felt were more important than the heat generated by an apparent culture war. But the majority felt plain disgusted. Catherine Chidgey has twice won the national fiction prize (The Wish Child in 2017, The Axeman's Carnival in 2023) and her latest novel The Book of Guilt has topped the number 1 position at the NielsenIQ BookScan bestseller chart for 14 weeks. She said, 'I'm appalled by Minister Stanford's decision to strip Māori words from children's books – a move cloaked in the spurious claim that it impedes English literacy, but reeking of racism and dragging us back to the 1950s. My own daughter has had no trouble reading and pronouncing both Māori and English in the same text, and this retrograde step is as needless as it is shameful.' Steph Matuku was a finalist at this week's New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for her YA novel Migration, a dystopian space odyssey set 3,000 years into our possible future. She said, 'You know that cartoon with the pirate telling the mermaid not to play the thing because he doesn't like it? And she glares at him and says, 'I WILL FUCKING INCREASE THE FUCKING THING!' Yeah, well, I am increasing the reo Māori thing in all my books, so there. Toitū te Tiriti.' A striking feature of the children's book awards was the number of books which made significant use of te reo Maori. The judges included Stacy Gregg, who graduated Level 6 Aupikitanga at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa last year, and has sold over a million copies worldwide of her middle-grade fiction. She won the supreme award at the 2024 awards for her novel about growing up in Ngāruawāhia, Nine Girls, which has a five-page glossary at the front of Māori words in the text. She said, 'This Government made it quite clear from the day they took power and prioritised deleting all signage in te reo as the first thing on their to-do list that they are focused on elimination of the Māori language as a cultural powerplay. At every opportunity they have undermined the use of te reo and ignored their Treaty partner obligations. 'What I find astonishing is the sass of Erica Stanford's racism – I mean she's just so blatant with it. I guess that's what growing up on the North Shore does to you.' Rachael King is also a successful middle-grade writer. She referred ReadingRoom to her comments on Instagram: 'In New Zealand many Māori words are part of our lexicon and need to be taught just as much as English words FFS.' Shilo Kino has written fiction for kids and adults; her 2024 debut novel All That We Know was inspired by Māori and Pasifika students who held an Auckland schoolgirl to account for posing in blackface in a Snapchat photo. She said, 'Can I echo the words of Te Akatea, the Māori Principals' Association, associate president Bruce Jepson? 'It's an act of racism. It's a determined act to recolonise our education system, and it sends a very dangerous message and is immensely harmful and it's utterly shameful.' 'I would add that this is another blatant, aggressive, and ongoing attack on te reo Māori by the government. It is the deliberate and ongoing erasure of te reo Māori. When does it end?' She emailed again 13 minutes later, and wrote, 'Also for more than 1,000 years, the various dialects of te reo Māori were the only language spoken in Aotearoa. It took less than 100 years for the almost erasure of te reo Māori. So many of our elders, activists, pioneers fought for te reo Māori to thrive today, so it is more than infuriating to think the Government can get away with casually erasing te reo from all aspects of life, and in particular the most important, education.' ReadingRoom also contacted a prominent publisher who was happy to be named, objected to the education minister's decision, but their most expressive quote was the first thing they said and was off the record: 'It's madness.' Helen Wardsworth, co-owner of one of the most beautiful bookstores in New Zealand, Dorothy Butler Childrens Books in Jervois Rd, Auckland, also objected—but felt that it distracted from another issue. She said, 'We're not in favour of the change but would rather be talking about the fact that only 30% of schools have libraries and that lots of experienced Resource teachers of literacy and Māori will be losing their jobs soon.' The attack on libraries was also of chief concern to the great New Zealand novelist Lloyd Jones. He said, 'I don't think it is the end of the world. 'There may be sound pedagogical reasons for separating out Maori and English vowel sounds at that point of a child's learning. However, in my experience, we make a mistake when we under-estimate a child's capacity. Set the bar low and a child won't disappoint you. Set the bar high and the same child won't disappoint you (with some exceptions, those with learning disabilities etc…). 'For a true crisis, shift your eyes to Gaza, where the world and its most useless agency the UN looks on helplessly as a captive population is systematically starved to death. 'For a local crisis, look at the outrageous amount of money spent on linking Archives and the National Library by some needless and pointless internal route. Millions that could have been spent making the national library look like – a National Library.' Nicola Legat, publisher at Massey University Press and chair of the the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, distanced herself from the furore. She said, 'I'm not at all an expert on structured literacy and was interested to hear the views of various reading experts. Perhaps everyone has got a bit overexcited and has raced to conclusions, but that's the climate we are in and that has been created: tempers are hot and passions are inflamed and everything, even early readers, have become part of a culture war.' Final word to one of the guv'nors of New Zealand books for kids, David Hill. His first teenage novel, See Ya, Simon (1992), is a YA classic. He has published more than 50 titles over four decades and received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction. He said, 'Erica is a well-meaning pupil who tries hard in class. 'Unfortunately, her progress is currently impeded by an inability to grasp certain concepts. These include: '1. Maori is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's official languages. It seems perverse to exclude it from any resource aimed at developing the language skills of young New Zealanders. '2. In the new, miraculous world of reading skills that places so much emphasis on phonics, it's worth noting that Maori words are spelt more phonetically than many English equivalents. (Try 'arero' and 'waka' against 'tongue' and 'yacht'.) '3. Knowledge of more than one language is universally accepted as enhancing memory, cognitive abilities and cultural understanding. 'If Erica pays attention to these and related issues, there remains a good chance that her next report card will be more positive.'
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa: Minister's Ban On Te Reo Māori In Year-1 Readers Breaches New Zealand's Human Rights Obligations
Rights Aotearoa condemns the Education Minister Erica Stanford's decision to exclude Māori words from new Ready to Read Phonics Plus books for five-year-olds (except for character names). This directive, confirmed in Ministry documents and ministerial comments, represents a retrogressive step that undermines children's cultural rights and New Zealand's international and domestic legal commitments. On a prima facie view, the policy conflicts with at least five UN instruments New Zealand has ratified. First, ICCPR Article 27 protects linguistic minorities' right to use their own language and, per the Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 23, requires positive measures by the State to safeguard that right. A blanket removal of te reo Māori from foundational readers sits squarely at odds with that obligation. Second, ICESCR Articles 13 and 15, read with the Committee's General Comment No. 21, require States to make cultural life accessible and to refrain from measures that restrict participation—especially for minorities and indigenous peoples. Stripping Māori vocabulary from early-years materials narrows access to culture in the very context where language attitudes are formed. Third, the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges that education foster respect for a child's own cultural identity, language, and values (Article 29(1)(c)) and protects indigenous and minority children's right to use their language (Article 30). The directive is difficult to reconcile with those aims. Fourth, CERD (and General Recommendation No. 23) calls for active measures to preserve and promote indigenous languages. A rule that singles out Māori words for exclusion from standard resources risks indirect discrimination and runs counter to that guidance. Fifth, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education prohibits distinctions based on language that impair equality of treatment in education and recognises minorities' right to use and teach their own language. Domestically, the directive cuts against NZBORA s 20 (rights of linguistic minorities) and the Māori Language Act 2016, which affirms te reo Māori as a taonga and an official language and requires a Crown strategy (Maihi Karauna) to revitalise and normalise its use across public life. Schools are also required to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi under the Education and Training Act 2020. Paul Thistoll, Chief Executive of Rights Aotearoa, said: 'Language visibility in a child's first readers is not a matter of taste; it is a matter of rights. Removing te reo Māori from Year-1 books is a legally retrogressive measure that marginalises indigenous language in mainstream schooling and undermines New Zealand's binding commitments at home and abroad. The minister is engaging in cultural suppression.' Rights Aotearoa calls for the following immediate actions: 1. Rescind the directive and confirm that Māori words will continue to appear in all new early-literacy readers as appropriate to context and pedagogy; 2. Release the relevant Ministry papers in full and consult with Māori education stakeholders, literacy experts, and the Māori Language Commission; 3. Align early-literacy resources with obligations under ICCPR, ICESCR, CRC, CERD, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, NZBORA, the Māori Language Act, and the Education and Training Act.
1News
5 days ago
- Politics
- 1News
Cutting kupu Māori in books does more harm than good
Critics of the Government's decision to phase out nearly all Māori words from early reader books are describing the move as damaging. An education ministry report shows Minister Erica Stanford decided late last year to cut Māori words, except for characters' names, from any new books in the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Some of those words include puku (stomach), ka kite (goodbye) and ka pai (good). Stanford says the decision will help children master English phonics, despite the ministry's report saying there is 'limited evidence' about the impact of using te reo and that expert opinion about the use of non-English words is 'mixed'. Dr Awanui Te Huia, associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington's Māori studies department, Te Kawa a Māui, said the ministry is "creating damage" where there is an opportunity to normalise te reo which has 'massive, positive impacts' on children's learning. ADVERTISEMENT Associate professor Dr Awanui Te Huia (Source: 1News) She said there are a lot of outdated theories around the idea that when people learn a second language it's at the expense of the first. She said the root of the issue comes from fear of what it meant to be monolingual. 'So the fear is actually stemmed from a misunderstanding by monolingual speakers about the positive impact of having more than one language, and translanguaging is a well-regarded method of teaching people how to engage in more than one language and we've seen multiple examples of how children and adults can freely go between multiple languages.' Move between languages She explains that translanguaging is the idea that speakers are able to move between languages. 'We can identify which language is appropriate for a particular context. We can also start to identify in text which language is being presented to us. So with repeated exposure, the child can actually grasp these concepts really readily. And the challenge here is that what the minister's decision is doing is that it's reducing the opportunity of our children to have this exposure, which is what they really need in order to be able to make these differentiations with the language.' She added there was no evidence to suggest that children 'in the right environment' would find it difficult to grasp the concepts. ADVERTISEMENT (Source: 1News) The minister made notes on the report including one that said: "Interestingly - I asked kura leaders if they would accept English words in te reo Māori decodable books and they said no. So it would be consistent to keep one language only in very early Year 1 decodable books, except for names." When asked if the minister had a point, Te Huia dismissed the idea that the argument is the same. 'We are talking about the exposure. Our children are exposed to English language outside of the classrooms, every day, in multiple ways, and that's just not the case in the reverse. 'So the fact that our kura are deciding not to have English text at that earlier age, that's just an example of why we need to provide our children with environments where they are able to actually have that isolated experience, because we are flooded with English outside of these confined spaces.' Tara Taylor Jorgensen, the Ministry's general manager for strategy and integration, told Breakfast in a statement that as of August, it has released 78 books as part of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Of these, approximately 30 books include kupu Māori. The series reflects the diverse characters and contexts of Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring that Māori students - and all learners - see themselves, their cultures, and their communities represented, Jorgensen said. ADVERTISEMENT No other titles in the series have been changed.
1News
6 days ago
- Politics
- 1News
Education Minister cut Māori words from future junior books, documents show
Education Minister Erica Stanford has imposed a near total ban on Māori in new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. An Education Ministry report shows Stanford decided in October last year to exclude all Māori words except for characters' names from any new books in the Education Ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series. The paper showed the decision was driven by concern Māori words were confusing for children learning to read English though evidence of that was mixed. Stanford told RNZ the decision affected only 12 books that would finish the series, after which the series, including 27 books with Māori words, could be reprinted. The ministry's report said: "Under this option, we would not include kupu Māori in all phases of the RtRPP scope and sequence for any future books. The 13 RtRPP books currently in development do not contain any kupu Māori, apart from character names." ADVERTISEMENT It was not clear in the paper whether the books would be reprinted. "As noted above, the RtRPP resources are expected to have a lifespan in schools of approximately 10 years, so it would take several years for the books containing kupu Māori that are currently in circulation to be replaced in practice." The document showed Stanford also instructed the ministry to develop a teaching sequence in the English curriculum to help teachers prepare children to read Māori words from their second year at school. Children reading (file picture). (Source: Stanford told RNZ that would stop teaching children in mainstream classrooms to pronounce and read Māori from being "left to chance". The ministry's document said currently from Year 4, Māori words were included in the curriculum with increasing frequency and complexity. Stanford told RNZ she considered rewriting the 27 books that contained Māori words to retain only the proper nouns in Māori, but later decided against it. ADVERTISEMENT "These are very early readers that teach children to learn to read and there are already 'heart' words in there that children have to memorise in English and if there are some te reo words in there as well, then that's okay and we'll leave them as they are," she said. She described the decision as the middle position between conflicting advice. The minister's October decision included reprinting one of the books, 'At the Marae', as a big book but not as a 'reader' for children to take home — something that angered many teachers and principals in the past week. The document showed Stanford raised the issue after "experts in structured literacy approaches" told her that including two different languages in the books could confuse learners and make it harder for them to master English phonetics. The ministry's paper said evidence about that was mixed but there was a case to consider the amount of Māori words in books for children learning to read. Literacy experts told RNZ this week Māori words were part of everyday New Zealand English and did not present problems for beginning readers because their spelling was regular and their vowel sounds matched some of the English vowels. The document said 26 of the 75 Ready to Read books had up to three Māori words and a 27th, 'At the Marae', had six Māori words. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including the legal fight to get a New Zealand woman and her child out of US immigration detention, sliding house prices, and Taylor Swift's big reveal. (Source: 1News) A hand-written note on the document showed the minister wanted te reo Māori introduced when children stopped using "decodable" books like the Ready to Read series, usually at the end of their first year at school or early in their second year. "I want to include in the NZC (English) a section on Te Reo vowel sounds and pronunciation to ready students for reading te reo words in school journals as previously discussed," she wrote. Stanford also noted that: "Interestingly — I asked kura leaders if they would accept English words in te reo Māori decodable books and they no. So it would be consistent to keep one language only in very early Year 1 decodable books, except for names." The ministry's paper said the Ready to Read series was designed to teach the reading of English "and the sound-letter correspondences in English". "Our advice to schools is to teach kupu Māori in RtRPP books as "told" words. The foundational skill of phonic decoding within the resources is based on the English language and students are not expected to decode the kupu Māori," it said. The paper warned the options could result in pushback from schools. ADVERTISEMENT "If we discontinue the use of kupu Māori (apart from character names) in RtRPP books, there may be a negative response and media attention. [REDACTED] In particular, recalling existing books has the potential to generate pushback." The minister wrote in response: "It's only in Year 1 decodable books that teach English and it would align with the approach taken in te reo decodables. Te Reo would be introduced immediately after the use of decodable stops which is typically end of Year 1 early Year 2 where students move on to journals."
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Education minister bans Māori words from junior books
Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Education Minister Erica Stanford has imposed a near total ban on Māori in new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. An Education Ministry report shows Stanford decided in October last year to exclude all Māori words except for characters' names from any new books in the Education Ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series. The paper showed the decision was driven by concern Māori words were confusing for children learning to read English though evidence of that was mixed. Stanford told RNZ the decision affected only 12 books that would finish the series, after which the series, including 27 books with Māori words, could be reprinted. The ministry's report said: "Under this option, we would not include kupu Māori in all phases of the RtRPP scope and sequence for any future books. The 13 RtRPP books currently in development do not contain any kupu Māori, apart from character names." It was not clear in the paper whether the books would be reprinted. "As noted above, the RtRPP resources are expected to have a lifespan in schools of approximately 10 years, so it would take several years for the books containing kupu Māori that are currently in circulation to be replaced in practice." The document showed Stanford also instructed the ministry to develop a teaching sequence in the English curriculum to help teachers prepare children to read Māori words from their second year at school. Stanford told RNZ that would stop teaching children in mainstream classrooms to pronounce and read Māori from being "left to chance". The ministry's document said currently from Year 4, Māori words were included in the curriculum with increasing frequency and complexity. Stanford told RNZ she considered rewriting the 27 books that contained Māori words to retain only the proper nouns in Māori, but later decided against it. "These are very early readers that teach children to learn to read and there are already 'heart' words in there that children have to memorise in English and if there are some te reo words in there as well, then that's okay and we'll leave them as they are," she said. She described the decision as the middle position between conflicting advice. The minister's October decision included reprinting one of the books, 'At the Marae', as a big book but not as a 'reader' for children to take home - something that angered many teachers and principals in the past week. The document showed Stanford raised the issue after "experts in structured literacy approaches" told her that including two different languages in the books could confuse learners and make it harder for them to master English phonetics. The ministry's paper said evidence about that was mixed but there was a case to consider the amount of Māori words in books for children learning to read. Literacy experts told RNZ this week Māori words were part of everyday New Zealand English and did not present problems for beginning readers because their spelling was regular and their vowel sounds matched some of the English vowels. The document said 26 of the 75 Ready to Read books had up to three Māori words and a 27th, 'At the Marae', had six Māori words. A hand-written note on the document showed the minister wanted te reo Māori introduced when children stopped using "decodable" books like the Ready to Read series, usually at the end of their first year at school or early in their second year. "I want to include in the NZC (English) a section on Te Reo vowel sounds and pronunciation to ready students for reading te reo words in school journals as previously discussed," she wrote. Stanford also noted that: "Interestingly - I asked kura leaders if they would accept English words in te reo Māori decodable books and they no. So it would be consistent to keep one language only in very early Year 1 decodable books, except for names." The ministry's paper said the Ready to Read series was designed to teach the reading of English "and the sound-letter correspondences in English". "Our advice to schools is to teach kupu Māori in RtRPP books as "told" words. The foundational skill of phonic decoding within the resoruces is based on the English language and students are not expected to decode the kupu Māori," it said. The paper warned the options could result in pushback from schools. "If we discontinue the use of kupu Māori (apart from character names) in RtRPP books, there may be a negative response and media attention. [REDACTED] In particular, recalling existing books has the potential to generate pushback." The minister wrote in response: "It's only in Year 1 decodable books that teach English and it would align with the approach taken in te reo decodables. Te Reo would be introduced immediately after the use of decodable stops which is typically end of Year 1 early Year 2 where students move on to journals."
