The Bicultural Imperative within the New Zealand Draft Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education, ‘Te Whariki’

1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 28-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Primary Site ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
Te Whāriki

The New Zealand Draft Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education, ‘Te Whariki’, introduced in 1993, are discussed in relation to the historical and cultural contexts which underlie their development, and aspects of the bicultural focus of the document are highlighted. The document addresses the aspirations of the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, for their language and culture to be protected and sustained. Early childhood is the primary site for the transmission of language and culture, and this places the onus on all early childhood educators in New Zealand to address these issues in an integrated way within the early childhood curriculum.

scholarly journals Kei hea te Ora? The whereabouts of the health of children in the early childhood curriculum of Aotearoa New Zealand

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-102
Author(s):  
Andrew Gibbons
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Te Whāriki

AbstractThe policies and practices of early childhood teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand have been an ongoing site of political, economic, social and cultural contestation. Competing values and beliefs regarding experiences of both the child and the teacher have been central to the contesting. Helen May (2001, 2009) tracks these tensions through the waxing and waning of particular landscapes or paradigms, each of which can be seen to have contributed to the growth of the early childhood sector, its purpose, operations, manifestations, and its arguably tenuous cohesion as an educational sector. This paper provides a brief overview of the various paradigms, their purposes, and their spheres of influence (recognising that other papers in this special issue will contribute to a very detailed picture of early childhood education in Aotearoa) before analysing the discourses of child health in relation to the early childhood curriculum. Health is woven into the strands and principles of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996). Yet, this paper questions whether teachers and student teachers are attuned to what it means to have health as a key part of the curriculum, and explores whether health is a marginal consideration in the curriculum. The paper engages Foucault’s work, exploring tensions between pedagogical and medical disciplines in relation to the professionalisation of early childhood teaching. The idea of holism is then discussed as an approach to early childhood education curriculum discussions with reference to the participatory approaches to the development of Te Whāriki.

scholarly journals Subject Knowledge in Early Childhood Curriculum and Pedagogy: Beliefs and Practices

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Hedges ◽  
Joy Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Teacher Knowledge ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Subject Knowledge ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Curriculum And Pedagogy ◽  
Childhood Education

The concept of ‘subjects' has posed a philosophical dilemma and polarised debate within early childhood education. Consequently, little attention has been paid to teachers' and children's subject knowledge and the role these might play in early childhood curriculum and pedagogy to extend and enhance children's learning. This article reports on a study that explored beliefs and practices about subject knowledge in one kindergarten in New Zealand. The study's findings are analysed from two contrasting perspectives: categories of teacher knowledge and sociocultural theory. The article argues that a contemporary sociocultural view of knowledge has potential within the existing philosophy underpinning early childhood curriculum and pedagogy to recognise and strengthen the position of subject knowledge. Implications for curriculum, pedagogy and teacher education are discussed.

scholarly journals New Zealand perspectives on early childhood education: Nāku te rourou nāu te rourou ka ora ai te iwi

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Tesar
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children And Childhood ◽  
International Audience ◽  
Building Policy ◽  
Te Whāriki

Abstract This special issue focuses on histories, pedagogies, policies, philosophies and alternative perspectives in early childhood education. Te Whāriki is heralded as the first bicultural curriculum not only in New Zealand, but in the world. Its importance is reflected in national and international research and early childhood discourses. Despite this, there is simultaneous critique of neoliberal policy, globalised practices and public and private investment in early childhood education in this region. Some lessons from New Zealand, of curriculum building, policy implementation, philosophies and sociologies of children and childhood are explored by New Zealand scholars, and focus on these broad New Zealand perspectives of ECE, to address the diverse interests of an international audience.

Emergent literacy as sociocultural practice: How well do New Zealand parents fit with Te Whāriki?

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qilong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Te Whāriki

A sociocultural approach to emergent literacy and growing concerns over the de-emphasis on literacy of the New Zealand early childhood education curriculum Te Whāriki call for locally situated emergent literacy programmes co-constructed by teachers, parents and children. While teachers’ approach to emergent literacy takes centre stage in research, little is known about approach of parents and whether and to what extent it is in tune with the national curriculum framework. Adopting deductive qualitative analysis, this study examines beliefs and practice about their child’s emergent literacy of 25 parents from New Zealand public kindergartens against the learning outcomes of emergent literacy proclaimed in Te Whāriki. The findings confirm general compatibility between parents’ approach to emergent literacy and that of Te Whāriki. Parents in this study recognize and respond to the importance of the preliteracy skills (e.g. name writing) for school readiness, which concretizes, operationalizes and localizes the generally, loosely and vaguely defined Te Whāriki learning outcomes. The findings support the practicality of the co-construction of local emergent literacy programmes by teachers and parents in chartered early childhood education services in New Zealand.

One ring to rule them all? Locating discourse in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education curriculum

2020 ◽  
pp. 147821032097312
Author(s):  
Fiona Westbrook ◽  
Jayne White
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Julia Kristeva ◽  
National Government ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Te Whāriki

Early childhood scholars in New Zealand have long lamented a rising dominance of neoliberalism. Correspondingly they suggest that there has been a lessening of socialist ideals and principles of Te Ao Māori after years of a right-wing government. With the ‘refresh’ of New Zealand’s national early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki under the Fifth National Government we sought to investigate the location of these discourses in Te Whāriki. Borrowing from Tolkien this paper draws on the metaphor of a ruling, in this case neoliberal, discourse as ‘one ring to rule them all’. We investigate the governmentality of the Fifth National Government through their Four Year Plan 2016–2020 and its permeation of the revised curriculum. Seeking to better understand the location and dominance of neoliberalism within the updated Te Whāriki, the paper analyses both the 1996 curriculum and the 2017 revision for socialist, neoliberal and Te Ao Māori discourses, and their status within the document. A post-structuralist conceptual framework is employed for this study, bringing to bear Michel Foucault and Julia Kristeva in conversation. Analysis across both Te Whāriki and the Four Year Plan found that while neoliberalism was certainly a pervasive discourse, it was, in fact, accompanied by discourses of socialism, neoliberalism and Te Ao Māori. The paper concludes by suggesting that, while neoliberalism may appear to dominate texts, there are complex interanimations between a number of discourses. This multitude potentially ameliorates any one discourse’s domination or, conversely, compromises others. With these findings come important implications concerning the pervasive discourse of neoliberalism and its shaping potential. However, there are also concerns for a new form of colonisation within early childhood curriculum and policy reform.

Is New Zealand a World Leader in Early Childhood Education? An Examination of the Empirical Evidence in Recent Reports

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
Ken Blaiklock
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
High Participation ◽  
Te Whāriki

NEW ZEALAND HAS A reputation for being a world leader in early childhood education (ECE); a reputation built on the development of innovative policies, high participation rates, high levels of teacher education, and the implementation of a national curriculum, Te Whāriki. A number of national and international reports have been used to support statements about the high quality of ECE in New Zealand. A closer examination of these reports, however, shows they provide insufficient attention to empirical information about children's learning and in some cases appear to be based on opinion rather than evidence. This article suggests that a downside of the belief that New Zealand is a world leader in ECE is that it may lead to complacency and a lack of willingness towards making evidence-based changes that could improve the wellbeing and learning of young children.

Children’s ‘working theories’ as curriculum outcomes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Peters ◽  
Keryn Davis ◽  
Ruta McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Complex Thinking ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Early Childhood Settings ◽  
Te Whāriki ◽  
Sense Of Wonder

This chapter explores how children make sense of their world through the development and refinement of ‘working theories’. Working theories are a key item for young learners, and are emphasized in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki. Children’s working theories develop in environments where they have opportunities to engage in complex thinking with others, observe, listen, participate, and discuss, within the context of topics and activities. It is through interactions and activities that children begin to own the ideas and beliefs of their culture and begin to make sense of their worlds. However, fostering this learning in early childhood settings is not always easy, and requires skilled adults who can respond appropriately. We explore and discuss the nature of children’s working theories and ways in which adult–child interactions can enhance or inhibit a sense of wonder and curiosity.

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