6 May 2014

Racist teachers a minority, says Parata

8:28 pm on 6 May 2014

Education Minister Hekia Parata believes a survey, which found some teachers negatively stereotyping Maori students, isn't reflective of what most teachers think.

Hekia Parata at Parliament.

Hekia Parata at Parliament. Photo: RNZ / Chris Bramwell

The study called Teacher Expectations, Ethnicity and the Achievement Gap, has been written by Hana Turner.

Ms Parata said most teachers she knew of - worked very hard to help their Maori students to achieve.

She said it was a disappointing survey about how 15 teachers under-rated their Maori pupils - but they were only a small portion of teachers.

The minister said there were many learning strategies such as He Kakano and Te Kotahitanga which schools used to boost Maori success.