Somali Students’ Perceptions of a New Zealand Primary School.

Abstract

Cultural diversity is growing in New Zealand and deserves to be celebrated for the richness and opportunities for understanding it brings to our lives. Culturally-responsive approaches to education accept diversity and enable students to draw on their unique cultural capital as a learning resource. The aim of this study was to contribute to the literature in this area by finding out what Somali students in a New Zealand primary school think about their schooling: the aspects of school which challenge or support their cultural identities. Three nine and ten year-old Somali students attending a primary school in the Greater Wellington region participated in focus groups. Open- ended questions were used to elicit their perspectives on pedagogical approaches and their interactions with their peers and teachers. The students identified numerous positive aspects of their school lives, including strong friendships and autonomy in the classroom, yet revealed that bullying is an on-going issue, for themselves and other students, in and out of school.