Bi-cultural Aotearoa/New Zealand: Provision of psychological services to the Māori population of rural New Zealand: Combining best practice with cultural considerations

Abstract

New Zealand is considered a bi-cultural country with both the majority European and the minority/indigenous Māori cultures are supposedly given equal weight within the psyche and policies of the country. In reality, however, individuals of Māori descent tend to be over-represented in negative socio-economic and educational dimensions. A higher percentage of Māori than Europeans live in rural areas which makes the provision of services to this segment of the population even more challenging. The New Zealand government has, however, recognized its obligations to Māori citizenry and has developed a number of initiatives in an attempt to better meet the needs of Māori students and to increase the number of Māori children achieving positive educational outcomes. This article summarizes initiatives currently in place and presents information concerning Māori educational achievement and progress that has been made to bring in Māori children to a level commensurate with rates of other children.