Starting to share weekly hints on succeeding in South Auckland schools...

It might be a lil' presumptuous of me to write that I'm going to start sharing weekly hints about succeeding in schooling in South Auckland schools because there's a need for it but that's exactly what I'm going to do because it concerns me that so many young people aren't making it in the school system, the very one that I engaged in as a student, a teacher/educator and now a parent.

Perhaps it's because when I started teaching in a South Auckland high school in the 90s that I thought that that was the worst that it was going to be and that things were going to get better. Boy, was I in for a shock when still today a lot of discussion mentions the "brown tail" in that many Maori and Pasifika students are not succeeding in our education system although pockets of schools tell another story.

I think it will take a conscientious effort from teachers, students and parents/caregivers to turn this around. There are systemic problems that are also in the mix but by in large a parent / caregiver and a student only have one shot at this during the teenage years and unfortunately for many, if they miss that opportunity then it limits opportunities for students to the future.

That's where I've met adult students who want to make changes in their lives in realising, as adults, that they are should have taken more responsibility as students and then begin to look at an alternative path to their current life's path with the door to success being in wanting better educational qualifications.

This is not the only route to go to gaining successful employment or in a business but it was one that my parents saw earlier on in my educational journey in realising that education opened up opportunities for better employment and life style as well as managing life's financial capabilities.

On the flip side, I've worked with many students who, having gone through the difficulties of living on a 'benefit' see the constraints put on their families and now want to seek better opportunities through gaining degrees to support the employment areas that they already have life skills in. It's so encouraging to see how you can still remain true to your culture and gain tertiary qualifications.

So transforming for families that I would like to now also share understandings from my experiences to how to 'make it' in mainstream education system...