A new report funded by Te Manatū Taonga has highlighted the positive impact of arts, culture, and recreation on the wellbeing of children, particularly for transgender and non-binary students, as well as cisgender boys, who showed greater school engagement when involved in ngā toi Māori.
The study surveyed 6,500 12-year-olds across Aotearoa and found overwhelmingly positive results for those who participated in the arts, cultural activities, and recreation.
Dr. Rebecca Evans, a lecturer at Te Ipukarea Research Institute within the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies, was part of the research team and says it was encouraging to see data reflecting the experiences of children who identify as trans or non-binary.
“This idea that our trans and non-binary young people having better experiences of well-being, and in particular they had really good school engagements...
“What this really says to us is that it’s a beautiful opportunity for promoting arts and music participation because it actually encourages these people to be at school, to enjoy school, and to have positive experiences of school,” said Dr Rebecca Evans, one of the researchers in the report.
Within the research, ngā toi Māori included activities outside of kura for all ethnicities, such as kapa haka, manu kōrero, waka ama, mau rākau, and more.
“It’s a really beautiful finding, and for me it just speaks to this idea that, you know, kapa haka and different activities like this, they provide spaces and places where rangatahi feel welcomed, they feel accepted, they feel good about themselves.”
He whānui rawa atu ngā hua ka puta ki te tamaiti
E ai ki a Evans nō Te Rarawa me Te Aupōuri, i kitea ngā hua i te hirikapo, i ngā kare ā-roto i te whakawhanautanga anō hoki i te tamaiti, nōna i te kura.
“What we did is we looked at their recreation and arts and cultural activities that they were doing, and then we linked this to their wellbeing outcome.
“There’s not a lot of evidence, especially for participation amongst young people. So, we have a good, strong evidence based for adult participation, but not for what young people are doing,” said Evans
E ai ki ngā kitehanga, hāunga rā ngā tamariki Māori, ko ngā tauira Pākehā anō hoki tērā i whai hua i tā rātou whātoro atu ki ngā toi Māori
Tuia i tēnā, he nui noa atu te whakawhanaungatanga o ngā rangatahi hauā ki ō rātou mātua, nā tō rātou whai wāhi atu ki ngā mahi toi Māori, me ngā māhi ā-Rēhia.
“We found that across demographics, if we looked at different young people who have different experiences of disability, different ethnic backgrounds, or many different backgrounds.
“We found across demographics that they were still experiencing, for example, better relationships with their peers.
They were having better experiences of ethnic identity—we have a measure of ethnic identity as well—and so yeah, the more they’re doing, the better.”
He mea whakaputa te rīpoata nei i te wā o Te Matatini, i te rā whakanui i ngā tamariki.
Read the full report here.
