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Figure 1: Te Whāriki, https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Early-Childhood/ELS-Te-Whariki-Early-Childhood-Curriculum-ENG-Web.pdf
Figure 2: Representing Hope For The Future, https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/representing-hope-for-the-future-te-whariki-champions/
(Ministry of Education, 2017).
Aotearoa- Māori name for New Zealand
Māori- Indigenous people of New Zealand
Figure 3: Learning, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz
Helen May
Figure 4: Helen May,
https://www.nzcer.org.nz/helen-may
Figure 5: Margaret Carr,
https://www.elp.co.nz/printobj.cfm?print_page=true&page_id=273
Lead Writers: Helen May and Margaret Carr, working in partnership with Tilly and Tamati Reedy.
Updated curriculum written by:
Dr. Helen Hedges, Lealofi Kupa, Dr. Claire McLachlan, Dr. Sally Peters, Keri Pewhairangi, Dr. Lesley Rameka, and Branda Soutar (Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 6: Tilly and Tamati Reedy, https://www.wellington-photo.com/blog/lady-tilly-professor-sir-tamati-reedy
(Foster-Cohen & Bysterveldt, 2016).
Figure 7: Waitangi, https://montessorikiwi.com/collections/new-zealand-resources/products/waitangi-day-story-book
Māori- Indigenous people of New Zealand
Figure 8: Kōwhiti whakapae whāriki, Ministry of Education, 2017.
Vision: all children are:
“competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society”
(Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 2).
Figure 9: Early learning center. https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/support/onsite-services/early-childhood-services/
Overview:
Whāriki, which is a woven mat, is used as a metaphor for the ECE curriculum. To create this mat, four curriculum principles are interwoven with five curriculum strands. Together the principles and strands represent the vision of children being at the forefront of Te Whāriki.
(Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 10: Te Whāriki Mat, http:government.govt.nz
Principles:
Empowerment: every child will experience an empowering curriculum that recognizes and enhances their mana (presence, charisma, prestige, honor, and spiritual power), while supporting them to enhance the mana of others.
Holistic Development: children’s learning is affected by every aspect of their context including the physical surroundings, emotional states, relationships with others and immediate needs.
Family and Community: children learn and develop best when their culture, knowledge and community are affirmed and when the people in their lives help them to make connections across settings.
Relationships: Ideas and refinement of working theories are supported through responsive and reciprocal relationships that the children have with people, places and the things around them.
(Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 11: Image of Principles, https://workingwithparentsaspartners.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/te-Whārikis-principles-and-strands/
Strands:
Wellbeing: Children have a sense of wellbeing and resilience (p. 26)
Belonging: Children know they belong and have a sense of connection to others and the environment (p. 31)
Contribution: Children learn with and alongside others (p. 36)
Communication: Children are strong and effective communicators (p. 41)
Exploration: Children are critical thinkers, problem solvers and explorers (p. 46)
(Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 12: Māori Months and Numbers, http://classroomclipart.blogspot.com/p/Māori.htmlMāori
"The expectation is that each ECE service will use Te Whāriki as a basis for weaving with children, parents, and whānau its own local curriculum of valued learning, taking into consideration also the aspirations and learning priorities of hapu, iwi and community" (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 8).
whānau - extended family
hapu - tribe/subtribe
iwi - extended kinship group
Kaiako- Teacher
Figure 14: Discovery, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Figure 13: Reading Together, https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/nuwa.2017.3.28?journalCode=nuwa
Role of Kaiako (Teacher) Working with Infants:
Figure 15: Floor Play, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Wellbeing/Mana atua (Strand 1)
Kaiako trust infants to communicate their needs and they respond sensitively to their cues.
Belonging/Mana whenua (Strand 2)
Every infant has their own “key” kaiako who greets them and provides most of their care. Infants guide the timing and pace of their care.
Contribution/Mana tangata (Strand 3)
Infant preferences for eating and sleeping are respected. Kaiako talk with infants about what they are doing and encourage children’s individual interests.
Communication/Mana Reo (Strand 4)
Both verbal and nonverbal communication is honored. Kaiako use close observation to listen to infants’ messages.
Exploration/Mana aotūroa (Strand 5)
Kaiako respect each child’s individual development and allow motor skills to unfold naturally.
(Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 16: Infant Room, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Role of Kaiako (Teacher) Working with Toddlers:
Figure 17: Toddler Kaiako, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Figure 18: Reading Together, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Role of Kaiako (Teacher) Working with Young Children:
Figure 19: Discovering Together, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Figure 20: Reading Together, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/professional-learning-and-development/
Role of Kaiako (Teacher) with Bicultural Development:
In the promotion of the bicultural elements of the Te Whāriki, the teacher or kaiako has many roles and areas where they can contribute:
Educators are expected to be of aware of bicultural issues, proactive in identifying their racism, and critique their own practice and programs (Ritchie, 2003).
Teachers representing the dominant Pakeha (a white New Zealander, as opposed to a Māori person) culture require humility and sensitivity to avoid misrepresentation of Māori culture, while also remaining cognizant of the limitations of their own bicultural development (Ritchie, 2003).
Foundations for co-construction of emergent literacy with Te Whāriki are feasible given parents' acceptance of the curriculum (Zhang, 2017).
Students in teaching development and certification programs need to be supported through their training to achieve confidence and competency in their bicultural journey (Gordon – Burns & Campbell, 2014).
Figure 21: Teacher and student, https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/early-learning-curriculum/designing-implementing-and-evaluating-curriculum-in-early-learning-services-what-is-important-and-what-works/
Figure 22: Exploration, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/weaving-te-whariki/deciding-what-matters-here/
Infant Environments:
Figure 23: Saying Hello, https://hail.to/te-taura-here-o-tautahi-khui-ako/publication/NVTOdPM/article/NxMCkQD
Figure 24: Exploring, http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2020/04/te-whariki-at-home-strategies-for-supporting-young-childrens-learning.html
Toddler Environments:
Figure 25: Principles, https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Early-Childhood/ELS-Te-Whariki-Early-Childhood-Curriculum-ENG-Web.pdf
(Ministry of Education, 2017)
Figure 26: Early Learning Center, https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/early-learning-curriculum/designing-implementing-and-evaluating-curriculum-in-early-learning-services-what-is-important-and-what-works/
Young Child Environments:
Figure 27: Outdoor Spaces, https://www.hekupu.ac.nz/article/science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-learning-through-lens-te-whariki-he-whariki
Role of Families:
Whānau- Extended family
Figure 28: Support, https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/resources/te-whariki-support-kaiako
"Fully inclusive early childhood services provide an environment that invites, acknowledges, and celebrates the diversity that each child and their whānau bring. This includes those with disabilities, health needs, diverse family types, refugee, migrant and minority families. An inclusive curriculum is strengths-based and respects and connects with Māori values and the principles of Te Whāriki."
- Ministry of Education (2017)
Whānau - Extended family
Māori - Ingiginous peoples of New Zealand
"Inclusive early childhood services create a community culture that ensures all children can be actively involved in meaningful play and learning with and alongside their peers. This includes providing additional supports or removing barriers when required."
- Ministry of Education (2017)
"The early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, was developed as an inclusive curriculum capable of encompassing all children.
Properly implemented, the gap between rhetoric and reality could be closed"
- Foster-Cohen & Bysterveldt (2016)
• Only two paragraphs within the pages of the curriculum allocated to the inclusion of children with special rights.
• The only indicator of how the education of children with special rights would be managed is through the development of an individualized education plan (IEP).
• The expectation was that by applying the principals of Te Whāriki, inclusive practices would be met. However, it was found that more detailed directions were needed.
(Hamilton & Vermeran, 2016)
Figure 29: Playing, https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Early-Childhood/ELS-Te-Whariki-Early-Childhood-Curriculum-ENG-Web.pdf
• Aimed to provide further direction for the inclusion of children with special rights and promotion of equity.
• Reduced learning outcomes and focused on stronger guidance on assessments to ensure children's learning in each strand are assessed.
• Details the responsibilities of kaiako (teachers) to meet the unique needs of all learners.
• Ensures children’s unique needs are catered for and that teachers adapt their teaching styles and environments to suit the needs of learners.
(McLachlan & Aspden, 2019)
• Focuses on nurturing responsive and respectful relationships with families to resist inequality and exclusion experienced by children with delays or disabilities.
• Honors families of children with delays or disabilities as experts on their children.
• Illustrates a shift in thinking and opens doors to inclusive learning.
(Gaffney & McAnelly, 2019)
Figure 30: Weaving Te Whariki, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/weaving-te-whariki/
“It is in this ‘dialogue’ between cultures that new cultural experiences and contexts arise and contribute to cultural identity and continuity” (Ritchie, 2002, p. 36).
History:
“A whanaungatanga approach is one that is inclusive and benefits all children and families” (Ritchie, 2003, p. 99).
The bicultural context and commitments of Te Whāriki are grounded in the Treaty of Waitangi/ Te Tiriti Waitangi (Ritchie, 2003).
This treaty enables British settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand, which had been previously acknowledged as Māori dominion. It was an agreement between the tangate whenua (people of the land) and the British Crown. The notion of “partnership” has been considered as implicit in the Treaty (Ritchie, 2003).
Te Whāriki is the recognition of the bicultural nature of these treaty obligations through commitment to social justice and the Treaty of Waitangi. The development of the curriculum was a deliberate attempt at a Treaty-based model of bicultural partnership (Ritchie, 2003; Jenkins, 2017).
Figure 31: Creating understanding of the treaty, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/the-treaty-in-brief
Whanaungatanga- relationship, kinship, sense of family connection
Aotearoa- New Zealand
Biculturalism:
There has been a debate around bicultural definitions between the Māori and Pakeha (non-Māori). Māori scholars have argued that constructs of biculturalism continue colonization of Māori, while many Pakeha authors have viewed biculturalism positively as a partnership between Māori and the Crown (Jenkins, 2017).
In addition to the debate on definitions is the growing challenge to biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand with the shift of globalization and increases in ethnic diversity in early childhood education services resulting in more multicultural realities (Jenkins, 2017).
It can be argued that this results in confusion for teachers and less attention to the foundations of Te Whāriki and the Māori culture. This coupled with teachers often representing monoculture backgrounds means that the dialogue continues (Jenkins, 2017).
Figure 32: Transitions, https://educationcentral.co.nz/the-transition-between-ece-and-school/
Development:
"'Responsiveness’, ‘respect’, and ‘reciprocity’ are words
used in the early childhood literature to describe the characteristics of effective interactions between teachers and children” (Ritchie, 2003, p. 99).
What does the bicultural debate mean for development?
Children’s development is inherently involved with the sociocultural activities that they engage with others in. Children in essence are socioculturally situated (Ritchie, 2002).
In the constructs of sociocultural activity this becomes then the unit of analysis to determine how children participate and contribute to their learning (Ritchie, 2002).
This can be challenging for teachers who come from monocultural and monolingual English backgrounds (Ritchie, 2002).
Teachers' demonstration of the commitment to bicultural development can be realized through their genuine effort to welcome Māori families with visible, tangible symbols, including through their actions and words (Ritchie, 2002).
Without these demonstrated commitments, it puts into question the feasibility of the curriculum including around areas of literacy.
Figure 33: Playing football, https://www.forlifenz.com/site_files/1702/upload_files/InclusivePractice-ForLifeWebinar.pdf?dl=1
Literacy:
Early childhood educators under Te Whāriki have moved from a developmental model of literacy to an emergent literacy model (Zhang, 2017).
Emergent literacy models are embedded within sociocultural perspectives that define literacy as more than reading and writing, but is a set of social practices associated with different domains of life (Zhang, 2017).
It would be difficult for a socioculturally focused national curriculum to more contextualized or prescriptive with literacy given the various realities from teachers and families in each community (Zhang, 2017).
This means it is imperative for teachers to be responsive, respectful, and have a certain amount of responsibility to the bicultural commitment in Te Whāriki to better enable biculturalism in development, literacy, and other relevant areas.
Refer to the bubble on the “Role of Kaiako” for further reflection on this.
Figure 34: Understanding the world, https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/teaching-strategies-and-resources/science/
"...the aspirations of Te Whāriki are still in the process of becoming." (Ritchie, 2016, p. 92).
Figure 35: Weaving Together, https://www.picuki.com/tag/whariki
Strengths:
Limitations:
In our reflection as a group, we discovered that there are many facets to Te Whāriki that we did not have time to explore in this presentation. We learned a great deal, but feel with more time we would have liked to further explore elements of inclusion and assessment, including learning stories (a form of narrative assessment that was developed alongside Te Whāriki).
Sara's Reflection:
Figure 36: Mutual Gaze, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/parenting-family/building-a-secure-attachment-bond-with-your-baby.htm
Kaiako- Teacher
Figure 37: Woven Heart, https://www.tanyavalentin.com/event/weaving-your-leadership-whariki-3/
Abigail's Reflection:
Figure 38: Curiosity, http://www.familytimes.co.nz/curriculum-curiosity/
One of the reasons I am drawn to Te Whāriki is its explicit link to indigenous populations through a bicultural lens. After completing the research for this project, I appreciate that the bias of teachers as discussed in other readings this term is evident in early learning centers in New Zealand; many teachers in New Zealand are still white and female. Through the research though I came to appreciate the idea that as part of our cultural engagement we need to rethink our roles as “experts”, since we cannot be experts in cultures or realities that are not our own (Ritchie, n.d., p. 100).
This resonates with me even more the idea that we are not just teachers, but also researchers who need to observe, reflect and learn from our children or students. We cannot assume we know everything when we go into the classroom, but need to step back, learn from our families, respect and incorporate who they are as part of our learning as teachers and in the classroom not just as a means of inclusion, but as a means of responsibility, respect and kindness to our learning communities.
Figure 39: Students learning together, https://barnardosearlylearning.org.nz/about/nz-early-childhood-curriculum/
Figure 40: Māori proverb, https://www.slideshare.net/planeta/Māoriproverbs?next_slideshow=1
The Te Whāriki approach resonates with my beliefs on all children learning alongside their peers with teachers that actively respond to the interests, abilities, strengths and needs of each child. My interest in the Te Whāriki curriculum focused on the inclusion of children with special rights, however, my thinking and practice has been influenced by the approaches’ focus on the Māori (indigenous people of New Zealand) culture. The Te Whāriki curriculum is founded on the Māori values and principles. Teachers using the Te Whāriki approach develop knowledge in Māori culture and views in order to better support the children.
While my specialized interest is in children with special rights, I am reminded of the importance of using a strengths-based approach in my teaching to support and respect all children not only with diverse abilities and learning needs, but also with diverse ethnicities, cultures, values and beliefs.
Figure 41: Happy Children, https://educationcentral.co.nz/the-transition-between-ece-and-school/
Māori- Indigenous people of New Zealand
The non-prescriptive and flexible nature of Te Whāriki has been referred to as both a strength and a weakness, leading some to claim that it is a philosophy rather than a curriculum (Jenkin, 2017). What do you see as the difference between a philosophy and a curriculum in early childhood settings? After participating in this workshop, does Te Whāriki strike you as more of a philosophy or a curriculum?
Figure 42: Harakeke, https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/3623
References:
18(3), 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2010.521296
discussion/#:~:text=According%20to%20Smith%20(2011)%20%E2%80%9C,have%20not%20been%20fully%20explored.
214-222. doi:10.1097/iyc.0000000000000070
Early Childhood Student Teachers Partnering With Families as Part of Their Pedagogical Practice. In Rice, B. M. (Ed.), Global
Perspectives on Inclusive Teacher Education (pp. 181-195). IGI Global. http://doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-7703-4.ch011
encounters with bicultural commitment. Childhood education, 90(1), 20 – 28.
Education, 21(1). doi:10.15663/wje.v21i1.195
39(3), 129-137.
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2020, from https://eej.ac.nz/index.php/EEJ/article/view/9/4
134–150.
childhood curriculum document in theory and practice (pp. 79 – 109). New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
in Aotearoa. In Early childhood education in aotearoa new zealand: history, pedagogy, and liberation (pp. 92–112). Palgrave Pivot.
Literacy, 17(10), 69 -91.