Maori schools 1816-1880

Abstract

In studying Pacific history we are concerned with certain types of historical problems - those resulting from the contact of Europeans with non-European societies. The present investigation of Maori schools from 1816 to 1880 is not an essay in educational theory, even less an administrative study, though some conclusions in both these fields may incidentally emerge. It is hoped that what justification there is for writing it is in the little light it may shed upon aspects of one particular certain type, of historical problem as it arose in New Zealand, in the growing contact between Maori and pakeha. As the educational thought of one generation tends to reflect not merely its accustomed habits of thought but also its aspirations for the generation which is to succeed it, in a multi-racial community this educational thought provides an insight into one race's view of its future relations with another. It may in some ways, indeed, be closer to reality than the conscious pronouncements and declarations on race relations. That a school system lags, behind educational theory is almost a truism; the extent of this lag, while partly being the result of the difficulties of putting plans into practice, is some measure of the strength and sincerity of the views held.