Judy Gill
New Zealand: Indoctrination in the Classroom
From early childhood onwards, New Zealand children are not being taught to question. They are being taught to accept.
Three powerful narratives dominate their schooling:
The climate apocalypse
Children are being told we face imminent catastrophe. The message is framed as urgent, moral and absolute. There is no space to weigh evidence, consider timelines or debate solutions.
The Treaty “principles”
The courts and politicians invented “principles” in the last 50 years – yet schools teach them as if they were written in 1840. The actual Treaty texts are barely touched. Children are taught a political construct as though it were history.
Māori spirituality under the guise of culture
Atua, karakia and wairua are presented as “cultural practices” – but in reality they are religious. This is not an ancient, unchanging belief system but a reconstructed religion, embedded in classrooms without parental consent.
It reinforces mana as coming from the atua through whakapapa – and only Māori whakapapa to the atua.
It legitimises a Māori sovereignty agenda that elevates one ethnicity above others.
It undermines democracy by presenting spiritual authority as superior to the will of the majority.
Teachers insist ‘it’s only culture, not religion’. That is gaslighting. It is obviously religious instruction, embedded in state schooling against the secular principle.
Finland: The Media Literacy Experiment
By contrast, since the 1970s, Finland has spent decades trying to teach media literacy – from preschool up.
In early childhood, children are shown that media is created for a purpose.
At pre-primary (around age six), they are taught to distinguish fiction from truth.
In schools, media literacy is woven across subjects: headlines in language class, persuasion in art, evidence in science, institutions in social studies.
Children even make their own media to understand how editing and framing can change meaning.
On paper, it looks strong. Media literacy is treated like maths or science: a life skill.
But when Covid struck, it failed. The system slid into the slogans of ‘misinformation, disinformation, malinformation’. Official narratives became ‘fact’. Dissent was ‘fiction’.
Decades of media literacy did not produce independent thinkers. It produced compliance.
Lessons for Us
Whether through indoctrination in New Zealand, or a failed media literacy experiment in Finland, the outcome is the same: children are not learning to question power.
If teachers themselves can’t or won’t model questioning, children cannot learn it.
A Better Way Forward
True media literacy must go deeper. It must train children (and adults) to ask uncomfortable questions:
- Follow the money – Who funds this? Who profits if we believe it?
- Who is in charge? – Which institutions are shaping this message? Are they accountable?
- Is it global? – Does this align with UN or WEF narratives? Is it serving a global agenda rather than a local debate?
- Why this religion? – Why is Māori spirituality being embedded in schools? Who benefits from calling it ‘culture’ instead of religion?
These questions cut across all three New Zealand narratives – climate, Treaty and spirituality – and across Finland’s media literacy model too.
Conclusion
The future does not need children repeating climate slogans, Treaty “principles” or prayers to Atua.
It does not need adults who blindly trust official Covid stories.
The future needs people who can think, discern, and choose wisely – even when no one is watching.
References
- Martens, H. (2010). Evaluating media literacy education: Concepts, theories and future directions. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 2(1), 1–22.
- Kiili, C., Mäkinen, M., & Coiro, J. (2021). Rethinking academic literacies: Designing multifaceted and digital literacy pedagogy for Finnish schools. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 16(2), 65–81.
- Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. National Media Education Policy (2013; updated 2019/2020).
- Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI). National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (2016).
- KAVI – National Audiovisual Institute, Finland: Media Education in Finland: Policy, practice and research.
