Charities, Philanthropists, Policy Entrepreneurs, International Companies and State Schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand
This report examines the development and delivery of state schooling policy in Aotearoa New Zealand at present. The main purpose of the report is to prepare a preliminary sketch map and understanding of what is occurring within a rapidly changing policy landscape. The analysis in this report documents how an increased presence of private sector actors is reshaping the ways in which state schooling policy is developed and enacted in classrooms, staffrooms, schools and local communities.
Of particular interest in this report is the role played by not-for-profit, charitable entities in state schooling. State schooling has commonly been regarded in social-democratic systems like New Zealand as a public or social good.
Historically, education has also been a principal objective of charitable activity on the basis that it provides a significant public benefit. Charity or philanthropy enjoys a privileged position in contemporary New Zealand society, which itself places great importance on the altruistic acts of ‘giving’.
It is therefore timely to assess the extent to which these emergent state schooling philanthropic actors appear to be motivated by considerations of public good, public benefit and altruism.
Report by John O’Neill with Connor Duffy and Sarojinie Fernando, Massey University Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa, Manawatū.
Commissioned by the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa, New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua, and New Zealand Primary Principals’ Federation Ngā Tumuaki o Aotearoa.
Further information:
How charities are shaping education policy in New Zealand - Address by Professor John O'Neill at PPTA Annual conference 2015
How charities are shaping education policy in New Zealand - Presentation notes
True charity kept at home - John O'Neill (PPTA News October 2015)
Golden opportunism - education 'charities' (PPTA News March 2014)
