Why This Model is Harmful: Evidence from Educational Research
The proposal to convert Kelston Boys’ High School into a sports-centred, privately-governed institution is being framed as “opportunity,” “discipline,” and “high performance.”
However, this model is not new.
It has been trialed across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in schools with large Black, Indigenous, Pacific, and migrant student populations.
The research on these conversions is clear.
These models produce:
Short-term behavioural compliance
Short-term athletic performance gains
and
Long-term negative outcomes in:
academic achievement
identity development
mental health
post-school career options
This is not an opinion.
This is a documented pattern.
1. Performance-Centred Schooling Narrows Identity
In sports-based school models, a student’s value is linked to:
physical performance
discipline compliance
ability to represent the school externally
(Golann, 2021; Parker & Manley, 2016)
For boys who do not identify as athletes, this results in:
identity invisibility
low sense of belonging
reduced engagement
higher internal shame
Belonging is one of the strongest predictors of academic success for Māori and Pacific youth.
(Anae, 2010; Airini et al., 2011)
A model that replaces belonging with performance undermines development, not strengthens it.
2. Narrower Curriculum = Fewer Futures
Universities and trade training organisations require:
NCEA Level 3 achievement
UE Literacy
3 approved academic subjects
Sports-focused schools that prioritise internal or vocational unit standards consistently produce:
lower university entrance rates
lower scholarship rates
and decreased academic confidence
(Baldwin et al., NZCER, 2018)
Students may gain fitness, discipline, or team culture.
But they lose future mobility.
A school must expand futures.
This model contracts them.
3. Discipline-First Models Harm Pacific & Māori Students
Models that centre discipline over relationship produce:
increased anxiety
emotional shutdown
disengagement masked as compliance
(Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003; Macfarlane et al., 2007)
Pacific research shows:
“Students learn through relational safety, humour, shared identity, and collective purpose — not through pressure or disciplinary surveillance.”
(Ana’u et al., Pasifika Education Research, 2019)
Replacing cultural relationality with performance behaviour frames the student as someone who must be corrected, not grown.
This is deficit pedagogy.
Deficit pedagogy is colonial in structure, even when led by Pacific staff.
4. High-Performance Environments Increase Injury & Dropout Risk
Only 1–3% of school rugby players progress into professional sport.
(NZ Rugby & NRL Pathways Reports, 2019–2023)
Even among those who do:
most contracts are short
most careers end by early 30s
injuries are common
retirement support is limited
A school that organises identity around a pathway that statistically fails for most students creates:
early identity collapse
depression risk
lack of post-school direction
A school must guarantee second doors, not just one.
5. Removing Community Governance = Removing Accountability
When governance shifts from an elected school board to a private trust:
decisions are internal, not public
whānau voice is consultative, not structural
curriculum can be modified without community approval
reporting transparency decreases
This is not innovation.
This is de-democratisation.
Schools do not belong to founders.
Schools belong to the communities that build them.
The BEWT proposal aligns structurally with international models that have:
Reduced academic opportunities
Narrowed identity pathways
Increased psychological pressure
Lowered long-term economic mobility
And removed community governance voice
Kelston does not need to become a performance environment.
It needs to remain a place where futures are protected and expanded.
Because once a future is narrowed, there is no simple way to restore it.
This is not just a school decision.
This is a generational decision.
Reference List
Anae, M. (2010). Research on Pacific Identity and Education. University of Auckland.
Airini, et al. (2011). Success for Pasifika Learners. Ministry of Education.
Baldwin, A., & NZCER (2018). Curriculum Pathways and Achievement Outcomes.
Golann, J. (2021). Scripting the Moves: Discipline and Power in a No-Excuses Charter School. Princeton University Press.
Macfarlane, A., Glynn, T., & Cavanagh, T. (2007). Creating Culturally Safe Schools.
NZQA. University Entrance Requirements. https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/awards/university-entrance/
NZ Rugby & NRL Pathway Research (2019–2023). Injury and contract duration analysis.
