Daring to be Different: The Rise and Fall of Auckland Metropolitan College

Abstract

In December 2001, Auckland Metropolitan College (Metro), the only state-funded alternative secondary school in New Zealand, closed after eight highly critical ERO reviews in eight years. Despite support from its own community, other schools, and the Schools Support Programme, Metro closed amidst long-standing confusion over its status and role in the New Zealand education system. This article explores Metro’s origins and the tensions between state regulation and innovative schooling within a quasi-market policy context. The article argues that Metro's ability to remain at the cutting edge of schooling was compromised by changes to, and gaps in, education policy, and that further research into alternative education, beyond the conception of it as a second chance option, is vital.