Kiwi or not to be: can a citizenship test really measure what it means to be a New Zealander? |
New Zealanders like to think of themselves as an uncomplicated lot. So straightforward, in fact, that successful completion of a short test can determine one’s fitness to become a Kiwi.
At least, that’s the plan from Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke Van Velden, who has announced that from late 2027 part of the process of becoming a New Zealand citizen will entail scoring at least 75% in a 20-question multiple-choice test.
At one level, this makes sense. If someone wishes to become a citizen of New Zealand, it seems reasonable to expect them to know something of the place. (The same might be said of people who are already New Zealanders, but the test will apply only to aspiring citizens.)
On closer inspection, however, the proposed test raises questions that deserve close attention – particularly regarding methodology.
For the results of any test to be valid, the assessment method needs to be appropriate to the purpose of the exercise, which has to be carefully designed into the test questions themselves.
In other words, exactly what are we testing for? Van........