How European art teachers in New Zealand are enabling Asian and Pasifika students to tell their stories through visual arts

Abstract

Paralleling the 2013 census statistics for the adult population in New Zealand art teachers in Auckland, its largest city, are predominantly European. In contrast, young people under 20 are increasingly diverse with those of Asian and Pasifika ethnicities, the two fastest growing groups, comprising over half of Auckland’s youthful population. Research conducted in Auckland in 2015 sought answers to how art teachers working in low to high decile schools are responding to the increasing ethnic diversity of students. Previous research had identified that Asian and Pasifika art and culture were largely absent from secondary school art programs compared with the emphasis on European and Māori. This paper focuses specifically on five European art teachers who are using culturally inclusive practices to enable 16-to-18 year old students of Asian and Pasifika ethnicities to tell their stories through visual arts. These teachers believed that the students’ art works which they brought to their interviews reflect their responsiveness to the students and their individual identities. The art works presented in this paper are eloquent devices that express meanings in ways that words cannot. They are not appendages to the research but an inseparable component for learning about the students and cultural aspects of their social worlds.