RESEARCH

Private School vs Public School

Private schools provide parents with choice in education and protect their right to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children. Society is richer for having choice in schooling and the efficiency of the education sector is enhanced where consumers of education services are able to exercise their choice across a wide range of providers.
Private schools, also known as independent schools, produce outstanding academic results from top performing schools. They make a significant contribution to boosting the nation’s global rankings in educational outcomes. They act as a competitive stimulus by setting benchmarks in innovation, diversity and curriculum delivery.
Choice and competition have a salutary effect on almost every other aspect of New Zealand life, including our tertiary education system and our business sector. Choice and competition in schools have a similar impact. The presence of a strong independent/private schools sector has both direct effects (on the academic achievement of those attending independent schools) and instrumental effects (through the competitive effect on state schools), which both work to improve outcomes for all children.

A recent report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research concluded that: “Allowing education providers to respond to the increasing diversity of tastes and preferences in education is efficiency enhancing. An education system characterised by rigidity and uniformity is unlikely to produce the same beneficial outcomes as one with a larger independent schools sector that is responsive to the needs of its ‘consumers’.”

So why do parents choose private schools for their children?
Independent (private) schools create room for the pursuit of learning in different cultural, religious and pedagogical settings. Parents from a wide variety of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds send their children to independent schools. These schools are not the sole domains of the wealthy or privileged. Most people who choose to send their children to independent schools are ordinary people who have a huge desire to give their children a good start in life. The one commonality of private school parents is their commitment to the education of their children at the school of their choice. Many parents make huge sacrifices to exercise that choice and, increasingly, grandparents and extended family are contributing to the costs.
Parents may choose a school for the curriculum it offers. Independent schools have the flexibility to develop a curriculum that meets the specific needs of the community it serves. They have the freedom to be innovative and to be at the cutting edge of education. As well as focusing on numeracy and literacy, there is a strong emphasis on leading students toward life-long learning and enabling them to be critical and creative thinkers. Increasingly, there is a focus on developing ‘solutionaries’ in school graduates; graduates who will understand that, whatever careers they pursue, they will have a responsibility to ensure that the systems within their professions are sustainable, just and humane.
Private schools have the flexibility to develop a curriculum and learning environment that will motivate and prepare students to be responsible global citizens, conscientious decision-makers and engaged change-makers.

To achieve these educational outcomes for their students, most private schools offer the national curriculum, with secondary schools preparing students for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), others often draw on complementary qualifications frameworks such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and/or Cambridge International Examinations. The qualifications and pedagogy offered in an independent school can often be pivotal to the decision made by parents in choosing the right school for their children.
Another consideration for parents is whether they would like their children to learn in a single-sex school or a co-educational environment. Some parents may want their children to be taught in a composite school (Years 1-13) and others may desire a separate preparatory school environment for the primary schooling years and a secondary school for Years 9 to 13. Some private schools have separate Middle Schools for Year 7 to 10 students.
Social and emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship skills, sit alongside core curriculum competencies as an integral part of a child’s learning. Independent schools offer strong pastoral care programmes that nurture healthy students and develop these critical skills that enhance students’ well-being, positive behaviours, and academic performance. Many private schools engage staff that are trained in pastoral care/counselling and have designated responsibilities in this crucial aspect of a child’s development. Some independent schools have school chaplains who are charged with the development and encouragement of a spiritual dimension in their students education.

Many parents look for a boarding school environment for their children. Historically, boarding schools catered predominantly to rural families in New Zealand but with today’s demanding professional lives of many parents the boarding school students come from wide and diverse backgrounds. Many parents opt for weekly boarding for their children so that there is minmal disruption and commuting during the week and quality family time at the weekend.
Parents often choose a private school because of the expectation placed on parents to be a partner in their child’s education. School-family partnerships greatly enhance students’ social and emotional learning and they create an environment where students are less likely to engage in risky behaviours. It has been found that where there is a functioning school-family partnership, there is less likelihood of truancy and much more effective communication and dialogue between home and school.
Collaboration between teachers, parents and students is helpful in evaluating progress, coordinating efforts and support systems to maximise the child’s learning potential.
When choosing a school, parents will often look at the co-curricular options and opportunities for their children. Many private schools provide a wide range of activities in the sporting, performing arts, outdoor education and service areas. All ISNZ Member Schools run local, national and international community programmes. They imbue their students with a strong social responsibility and commitment to serve the wider community. There is a focus on ‘giving back’ and serving less advantaged communities both in New Zealand and abroad. Community engagement empowers students to affect the change they would like to see. Students take with them a sense of social responsibility, moral obligation and empathy that will make them effective citizens of the world. These students will become the change-makers in our society.
Parents often choose a private school for its religious affiliation. Religion does not seem to be fading away in modernity and requires that we consider its place in our school communities and curricula. Global citizenship requires an understanding, at the very least, of religion and religious differences. Some independent schools belong to a given church, for example, the Anglican Diocese or Presbyterian Church. Other private schools are non-denominational. All ISNZ Member Schools have robust values programmes underpinning their core purpose. Whole school communities are expected to embrace and support a values-based teaching and learning environment. Perhaps the most important aspect of a parent’s decision in choosing a school for their children is around teacher quality.
The shiniest new building, the latest IT facility and the most innovative curriculum will all struggle without good teachers. An emphasis on better teacher quality is a common feature of all reforms. Structural progress in education – new schools, reorganised old ones, new examinations and assessment practices – can happen in a short time. Better teachers take much longer to reform.
Private schools have very clear professional growth expectations of new, mid-career and veteran teachers – similar to the expectations in other professional fields. The principals and academic leaders in our schools foster an academic environment where there is a powerful motivation to become, and to be recognised as, master teachers.
So no matter what the motivation of parents to choose an independent school, at some level they see the opportunities that these schools offer as critical to their child’s future.
New Zealand should aspire to a system of education that is open to all. All parents – regardless of financial means – should have the ability and opportunity to choose where to send their children to school. That is social justice at its simplest. Private schools in New Zealand possess the will, the courage and the insight to constantly review and redefine what it means to be an educated person, and to empower the students in their care with those essential capacities they will need to live their lives with integrity, compassion, empathy, moral courage and ethics.