Cook Islands' schools

Commonsense material for Cook Islands' schools

During the period 1962-1967 when I was Deputy Director of Education in the Cook Islands 1 struggled with those who were responsible for the development of programmes in social studies. It was almost impossible to persuade the expatriate educator that it was essential, in the first in stance, that social studies material be it history, geography, or whatever, was relevant to the Cook Islands pupils and teachers.

I well recall the puzzlement of children and teachers on Atiu listen ing to a disembodied European voice expounding from the radio on the mysteries of the Loch Ness Monster.

Secondly, there was the problem of establishing accurate and in-depth research of the information which was to be given to the local children.

As late as 1967 the children were subjected to the influence of erroneous and stereotyped informa tion on a wide variety of subjects.

The isolation of the island communi ties did make the gathering of and

dissemination of information diffi cult, but it was unpardonable for a schools’ publishing and broadcasting service financed by the New Zealand Government to distribute canards such as the puffer being the principal means of water transport in modern Scotland; that the canal boats of the Rhine basin are dirty and dilapi dated; that the scenery in Holland is dominated by fields of tulips; or that the contemporary population in Ireland lives mainly on potatoes and cabbage.

It is most refreshing, therefore, to note the appearance of publications which are now being produced by the Cook Islands Curriculum De velopment Unit (headed by Mr Joe Keown) in co-operation with the UNDP/UNESCO Secondary School Development Unit at the University of the South Pacific. The Satellite Pacific Roundup provides an in valuable current affairs bulletin, which appears on a weekly basis, is produced cheaply and attractively,

and cannot fail to widen the know ledge its readers, children and adults alike, will have of issues which are of importance within the Pacific Islands region. R. W. Whyte, of Tereora College, provides a regular column Whyte’s Wash, which pro vides frank and perceptive commen taries on questions pertinent to the Pacific nations. In the July 12 issue Whyte comments on the role of the expatriate officer—“historically it can be said that in many parts of the Pacific the lesson was soon learnt, that in order to survive it was neces sary, if not to accept without ques tion, at least pay lip-service, to Western values, concepts and prac tices. The present-day expatriate doesn’t know enough, or care enough about the values and traditions of those he proposes to advise and in struct, let alone about their deepest hopes, needs and aspirations. We Westerners are coming to regard our world of technology, and mass produced gadgets as a very dull place. We are discovering at long last that it is the differences, not the similarities, which make life interest ing. We should be always readier to learn rather than to teach. Per haps the first virtue of an expatriate should be humility and perhaps, I am writing of myself. On Sep tember 20 Whyte wrote—“the small nations of the Pacific are realising that to survive satisfactorily they must combine their resources and talents against the interests of groups outside the region. Although the de fection of the Marianas is disappoint ing it is understandable. But the con ditions which prompted such a de cision are peculiar to the Marianas and are not applicable elsewhere”.

The second publication to be dis cussed is a social science pupil’s pamphlet Te tupuanga o Avarua: the growth of a community, 1823- 1901. Again the production has been at a very modest cost level and it gives a clear indication that it is to be regarded as trial material which will undergo refinement and develop ment. The pamphlet does not pontificate, nor does it seek to make evaluative judgments about the groups of people who lived in Avarua during the 19th century, be they Maoris, missionaries, traders, or

beachcombers. Rather does the book let draw upon the real stuff of history, the documents, the news papers and the pictorial records of the times. It is also a pupil’s work book and, for example, it asks the reader to listen to an audio tape recording of the scene in a recon struction of the court in Avarua in the 1830 s, then sets out the ‘Blue Laws’ made by the chiefs of Raro tonga in 1879, including “If a man burns down a house and the people are killed, the man who lights the fire shall be killed too, but if it is an

accident he will be fined $20.00”, and “If a man walks along the road at night with his arm around a woman and he does not have a light in the other hand he shall be fined $10.00”.

The material does contain some instances of the need for more care ful presentation and perhaps some of the historical information may not be absolutely correct, but praise must be given to this effort to tackle at the work face the problem of pro viding relevant curriculum material for use in Pacific Islands schools.— W. G. Coppell.