Education students (usually teachers, school leaders and education bureaucrats) in New Zealand’s largest city have the option of studying a postgraduate paper called Education and Empowerment. The paper is designed to challenge thinking about the contemporary issues facing urban (low socio-economic) schools. History, politics, sociology, teaching and learning, and best practice relevant to urban school students, teachers and communities are examined. Emphasis is in empowerment theories, underpinned by Freirean perspectives (Carpenter, 2010).

In 2010 students each completed a micro-level research project. This involved selecting an adult who was schooled in an urban school, and interviewing the person about his/her school and learning experiences. Transcripts were then theorised and essays were submitted as an assessment task. As the Lecturer I subsequently undertook a critical examination and macro-analysis of the 25 transcripts and related essays.  Students gave permission for their submissions to be analysed, with agreement that their contributions would be recognised in any presentations or publications. At the same time, interviewees gave permission for their transcripts to be cited and analysed, with the understanding that they, as participants, would not be identifiable.

In this presentation I will critically examine the data from the 25 interviews, and provide illumination with Bourdieu’s (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) and others’ (Coleman, 1997; Devine, 2009; Noguera, 2001; Putnam, 2000; Saegert, Thompson, & Warren, 2001) cultural and social capital theories.  The key question is ‘How and in what ways did participants feel that their childhood urban schooling experiences met their perceived needs and academic potentials?’

Most students chose to interview a person who had a similar gender and ethnic identity to their own. 14 women and 11 men participated in interviews. Regarding ethnicities, most interviewees were recent immigrants or descendants from the Pacific Island nation states of Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. Also interviewed were Maori (indigenous New Zealanders) and one Pakeha (a New Zealander of European ancestry). The ethnicities of the participants are reflective of New Zealand’s contemporary urban school populations – like most other western countries (Europe included), New Zealand’s low socio-economic communities tend to be non white.

Many of those chosen by students for interview are successful in their adult lives. Interviewees included social workers, artists, teachers, a barrister, a company supervisor and a landlord. The selection of ‘successful’ adults is perhaps indicative of the current friendship networks of the students. Many of the students themselves had personal experience of schooling in urban schools, and some interviewed family members or relatives.

This study’s findings are informed by internationally sourced theories, and the findings have relevance in the international context. In many ways New Zealand society mirrors that of Europe, and most of those with power in New Zealand tend to have European ancestry. Those with least power, including those who attended or who currently attend poorer urban schools, are likely to be non white and more recent immigrants.

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