Supporting Equity for Māori and Pacific students in New Zealand Scholarship

Sample size

This paper primarily draws on two phases of research conducted by NZQA in 2021 and 2022.

The first phase of the project involved students in 10 schools that had proportionally high levels of entries and success for Māori and Pacific students in Scholarship. Located in both the North and South Islands and in a mix of rural and urban settings, eight of the schools in the sample were co-educational.

The second phase of research, conducted in 2022, included 13 schools whose student populations are nationally representative by being at least 17% Māori or 9% Pacific. These schools have a high equity ratio¹ for Māori and Pacific learner attainment at NCEA Level 3 and have at least 25 students a year participate in New Zealand Scholarship. The schools, located in eight cities across the North Island, are comprised of six single sex girls’ schools, six single sex boys’ schools and one co-educational school. Three of the schools are faith-based.

We received 215 student responses in the second phase of this study, with 20 students identifying that they whakapapa Māori, 16 identifying a Pacific ethnicity, 117 identifying as European, 37 identifying as Asian, and 25 identifying as another ethnicity. Three quarters of the students indicated they were attempting Scholarship in 2022, and the rest indicating they were possible candidates in 2023.

Unless noted otherwise, the findings in this paper relate to the 2022 phase of research.

Equity in Scholarship as a school priority

Five of the schools involved in the research have equity as a strategic driver, but only one is actively developing plans and actions to build Pacific student participation in Scholarship. The other schools did not report explicit plans to improve equity in Scholarship participation or achievement, with several reporting a need to address motivation for school in general before considering Scholarship.

Whether schools identify Scholarship as a strategic priority depends on what the school is wanting to achieve. Most schools describe Scholarship participation as important to meet individual student academic needs, and/or because their staff are highly engaged and experienced, and are confident in promoting student interests through Scholarship. Some schools also note the marketing opportunity to prospective students that high Scholarship achievement rates provide.

Half of the schools in the project have achievement outcomes other than Scholarship as their priority. Broader strategic actions in some schools include a Scholarship focus.

How do schools identify and support Scholarship students?

What are secondary schools doing to encourage participation by ākonga Māori and Pacific learners?

Schools described a range of actions they take to identify potential Scholarship students.

All sampled schools report supporting any student wanting to participate in Scholarship examinations. The aspirations of students or their whānau could be a valuable input into considering whether students might be potential Scholarship entrants.

Some schools ‘shoulder tap’ students who they believe are capable. None of the schools sampled currently track their Scholarship entrants to ensure they reflect a range of ethnic groups.

About half the schools support Year 12 students to enter Scholarship examinations, usually to give them practice as part of an acceleration programme.

Four schools, (3 single sex boys’ and one single sex girls’) draw their Scholarship students from special gifted and talented programmes for Year 10 or 11 students. The ethnic makeup of these programmes will be considered further in the next phase of the research to find out if it presents a limiting factor on equity for Scholarship entries.

Those offering dedicated Scholarship programmes often start in Year 10, using student performance in Year 9 as the measurement. While they allow Year 12 and 13 students outside these programmes to enter, how schools manage students on this second pathway is not clear. Nor is whether the schools analysed the participation and success of Scholarship students against the pathway they took.

The first phase of this research asked schools with successful Māori and Pacific Scholarship candidates how they engage students in Scholarship. Their feedback indicated that a multi-pronged strategy for engaging students in Scholarship is the most effective, including whole group (written, repeated) and individual approaches. This should include:

• general information in a senior school assembly, including messages from current and former Scholarship students
• written information available on the school website / portal / Google classroom
• invitations to attend information sessions for subject and learning areas, in whānau time or during class (not in break times)
• approaches to individual students that reinforce that the teacher sees real potential in the student, and that the teacher and student will be working together towards success
• positive impact on success at NCEA Level 3.

What motivates participation?

The first phase of research showed that four interacting components guide behaviours – opportunity, motivation, capability, and capacity. Building on this initial work, NZQA has sought feedback from students both on their primary motivation for entering Scholarship, and the other supporting influences on their decision.

Monetary award

Monetary reward was the primary motivator for European, Pacific and Asian students entering Scholarship. For Māori students, ‘Passion for the subject’ was the primary motivator for 43.8% of respondents, and ‘Money’ (37.5%) came second. Even where it was not the primary motivation, the financial award plays a significant role in influencing students to enter Scholarship.

This result may be somewhat surprising, given that a single subject award provides a one-off payment of $500 – an amount easily achievable through summer or weekend work.  To receive more than $1000, a student typically needs to receive Scholarships in at least 3 subjects².  It was unclear whether students had an accurate impression of the monetary rewards that are available.

Staff in the six boys’ schools all report money as a primary motivator; also noting that some students say the financial reward is not enough as they can earn the sum with a part time job. Single sex girls’ schools did not mention money.

Passion for the subject and opportunity for personal growth

The love of a subject was the largest primary motivation for Māori students and second greatest primary motivator for Pacific, European and Asian students. For every ethnicity, the opportunity for personal growth was the third most common primary motivation. In the girls’ schools, in particular, leaders describe the subject and the opportunity to develop a relationship of trust with teachers based around critical and creative thinking as highly motivating.

Two integrated schools ascribed their faith-based educational approach as a significant motivating factor.

Academic confidence and school support

While not a common primary motivation, students’ confidence – and the support of the school – were the most influential factors in supporting a decision to enter Scholarship. This reinforces the important role schools have in encouraging students to push their boundaries and reflects the importance students attach to their schools identifying their Scholarship potential. However, it conversely suggests that capable students who do not receive this encouragement may decide not to attempt Scholarship.

Challenge, prestige and the recognition of achievement

The challenge posed by Scholarship was a significant factor influencing students’ decisions to enter, likely tied to the opportunity for personal growth. Schools describe the prestige given to students who gain a Scholarship as a student motivator – however, the recognition of achievement was the least important motivating factor for students

Premier Scholarship Award winners 2022 (external link)

How schools can encourage equity in participation

The first phase of this research asked students in schools with high levels of Scholarship success for Māori and Pacific students how their schools could encourage equity in participation.

Feedback from Māori students showed they are more likely to engage with Scholarship if:

• they have a personal relationship with their Scholarship teacher or tutor
• the invitation to participate is individual, repeated, and is an invitation to a reciprocal learning relationship and not to an assessment
• they can see examples of other Māori students being successful in Scholarship
• they have an opportunity to use their own interests, cultural capital, ideas and goals to influence the Scholarship assessment (particularly accessible in the submitted Scholarship subjects, and in selecting contexts for some examined Scholarship subjects).

In addition to these factors, Pacific students told NZQA they are more likely to engage with Scholarship if:

• they can learn with their friends, and invite other Pacific students to join
• they know that their teachers ‘see’ them as both strong individual learners, and as strong Pacific learners
• they have been repeatedly encouraged to acknowledge their academic potential.

Building teacher capabilities and capacity

The ability and confidence of teachers to support students is a key factor in determining student subject choices and entries in Scholarship examinations.

While some schools have a strong pool of Scholarship subject specialists to draw on, in most cases the expertise in schools is limited to certain subjects. Having access to subject specialists and expertise would help them to expand student participation. 

The capacity of teachers to provide additional support to Scholarship candidates was also raised as a challenge. Compounding this, there is limited ability for schools to recognise the additional work for teachers (particularly those who offer support outside of school time), meaning teachers receive no additional incentive, or only a token recognition, for this work.

Schools aiming to improve their Scholarship results could target recruitment and retention of key staff through (financial or non-financial) recognition of their work, and celebrating the achievement of their students. Additionally, it might be possible for Scholarship subject experts to work across schools to support a larger number of students, or to support the confidence of teachers by providing access to Scholarship resources and networks.

Recommendations

To help provide more equitable outcomes in New Zealand Scholarship, we recommend schools and NZQA pay attention to the following key areas:

Schools:

• Should reflect on the degree to which their candidates for Scholarship reflect the Māori and Pacific population of their school.
• Should be mindful of equity when identifying students for entry to Scholarship, and provide information about Scholarship that allows for the identification of capable students they may not have shoulder tapped.
• Should consider whether the number and range of subjects that capable Māori and Pacific students enter in Scholarship position them to receive the top awards.
• Could actively ask the aspirations of Māori and Pacific students and their whānau before identifying potential entrants for Scholarship.
• Could consider promoting Scholarship entry to those students with at least 14 Excellence credits at Level 2 in a Scholarship subject.
• Could consider if there is a role for community or other experts who are not subject teachers to work with students e.g. in the Samoan language.
• Could prioritise support that is accessible for Māori and Pacific students when developing support programmes for Scholarship candidates.
• Might consider how to work together to share Scholarship experts and support programmes across schools.

NZQA:

• Should work with schools and students to provide advice on what methods of support are accessible to Māori and Pacific Scholarship candidates, and are most likely to enhance their success.
• Should develop communications to students, whānau and communities about Scholarship that support the identification of capable students and motivate students to participate in Scholarship.
• Should consider ways to support schools wanting to build teacher capability to deliver Scholarship, such as sharing examples of best practice from schools that have developed subject teachers’ skill and knowledge in Scholarship.

Acknowledgement

NZQA would like to thank the schools and students who participated in this research during 2021 and 2022, whose insights and experiences form the basis for this paper. We also thank those schools and students who are participating in 2023.