ABSTRACT
Many governments, such as those in the UK and New Zealand, are recognising that schools on their own may not be able to provide a sufficient response to the learning and behavioural needs of students from increasingly diverse cultural and community groups. They envisage a role for external groups in liaising with schools to prevent social exclusion and in reintegrating those already socially excluded into mainstream society (Tett et al., 2001). This process of liaison is sometimes driven by professionals, and sometimes by parents, carers and/or the local school community. In New Zealand, for example, the Ministry of Education is concerned to reduce the number of students being excluded, stood down or suspended from schools, especially those from cultural groups whose students are over-represented in these statistics. It requires schools to consult with their local communities, particularly their Ma¯ori community. This is expressed in key education policy documents such as the National Administration Guidelines (NAG) (Ministry of Education, 2001b), and the Special Education 2000 policy document (Ministry of Education, 1997, 1998a). NAG 1 (v), for example, states that schools’ Boards of Trustees are required: ‘in consultation with the school’s Ma¯ori community, [to] develop and make known to the school’s community policies, plans and targets for improving the achievement of Ma¯ori students’ (Ministry of Education, 2001b).
