By Cherie Chu, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington.

Published by Victoria University Press, Bernadine Vester’s Southern Transformation: Searching for educational success in South Auckland (2016), examines the differences in views of education between public policy makers and of people ‘on the ground’. In terms of professional experience, Mrs Vester has been the foundation chief executive of the City of Manukau Education Trust (COMET), and has held many top level educational roles such as deputy chairperson of Teach First NZ and the chair of Te Tuhi Contemporary Art Trust.

The central argument made in the book is that South Auckland has been the centre of attention when it comes to public policy making and that policy makers have long held the view that if the problems of South Auckland were ‘fixed’, then Auckland and New Zealand would be much better off socially and economically. This book advocates for a community-centred approach to educational success and transformation and Vester offers a pragmatic analysis of the educational issues in South Auckland alongside an abundance of citations that point to her personal and professional experience in schools and communities. While this approach has some merit, I found so many details detracted from the central argument at times. The examination of South Auckland challenges were clearly apparent in her proposition and she illuminates the inequalities that stand in education, particularly in compulsory schooling. In her chapters Vester covers the failures of the free market; the learning challenges of poor communities; and the call for educational governance that brings people together in a collective manner.

Reading about challenges always make me slightly feel down. And reading about a tonne of challenges that have been around since the  1950s makes me frustrated. As an educationalist, I totally understand that challenges are always evident – especially for many of us who have been around it all our lives. I believe that challenges should definitely be debated and discussed in depth, and this is what this book offers for those who read it, generous topics for debate – whether we are the teachers, academics, organisations, students, community people, or policy makers. However, a deeper consideration or an appreciation of what works well in education should also balance out some of the issues-based arguments. So many of us are fatigued from the dialogue on challenges. Practically, it is time to attend to what can be done and focus on what is being done. Moreover, the voice of the younger generation also needs visibility when ‘we’ are discussing educational success. To add to the more hopeful possibilities in this book, I wanted to read about what students thought in terms of their own vision for education – and not just in a few paragraphs but in a more substantive way. Policy makers have not been the main change agents for disempowered groups of people in New Zealand and many of us cannot solely rely on public policy makers to change for educational transformation to occur.

The missing piece of the puzzle for me – educational success ran solidly in the title of Vester’s book. But, actually who defines this success and what are the measure for success? Where was the firm inquiry of ‘success’? In summary, Bernadine Vester’s book is full of factual material, full of experiences and full of interesting ideas. Her offering is a constellation of approaches in the conclusion chapter, which have value for all peoples of New Zealand.