Te Whāriki: Early childhood curriculum policy statement

A sector that I don't often write about, but am coming to realise the error of my ways, is Early Childhood Education (ECE). From ECE colleagues I get a sense that this is an often sidelined sector, which is crazy given the fundamental impact that educators can have for very young learners - as the following quote illustrates

Early childhood is “…a period of momentous significance for all people growing up in [our] culture… By the time this period is over, children will have formed conceptions of themselves as social beings, as thinkers, and as language users, and they will have reached certain important decisions about their own abilities and their own worth.”

(Donaldson, M., Grieve, R., and Pratt, C. Early Childhood Development and Education: Readings in Psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983, p. 1)

Recently a dear friend from the UK asked me to do a wee bit of research into Te Whāriki, a New Zealand Early childhood curriculum policy statement that has been getting a lot of attention internationally since its introduction in 1996. So, rather than putting the resources and links into an email I felt it would be good to share here, and to invite other folks to comment on, or add to the resources listed.

The Education.govt.nz site describes Te Whāriki as "a framework for providing tamariki (children's) early learning and development within a sociocultural context" (source). The policy statement "emphasises the learning partnership between kaiako (teachers), parents, and whānau/families" (source). The approach means that the "Kaiako (teachers) weave an holistic curriculum in response to tamariki (children's) learning and development in the early childhood setting and the wider context of the child's world" (source).

The New Zealand Ministry of Education site adds a little more details (which you can read in full) including the four broad principles of Te Whāriki:

• Empowerment (Whakamana). Children will be empowered to learn and grow
• Holistic development (Kotahitanga). Children learn and grow in a holistic way. Their intellectual, social, cultural, physical, emotional and spiritual learning is interwoven across all their experiences
• Family and community (Whānau tangata). A child’s family and community are recognised as part of the learning experience
• Relationships (Ngā hononga). Children learn through positive relationships with people, places and things.

A short video (1 min 47 secs) that summarises Te Whāriki and discusses whether it needs review.

Learn more

Some of the resources below are free to access and / or download, others you can purchase.

• Read Te Whāriki online.
• Download a copy of Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Matauranga mo nga Mokopuna a Aotearoa [PDF, 494 KB].
• Synopsis: Te Whāriki – What is this Early Childhood 'Curriculum' that ECE Ser...
• Video: Overview of Te Whāriki
• Poster: Laminated set of 10 Te Whāriki objectives 
• Diagram illustrating the key concepts of Te Whāriki and how they in... (scroll down the page to view)
• Report: Working with Te Whāriki (May 2013) - A report that presents "the findings of a 2012 national evaluation about curriculum priorities".
• Paper: New Zealand ECE teachers talk about Te Whāriki - This article explores "a group of nine New Zealand early childhood teachers’ understandings of aspects of their educational planning and practice related to the implementation of the national curriculum document – Te Whāriki".
• Paper: Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum: Is it effec... - This article raises questions about the structure and content of Te Whāriki.

• Book: Weaving Te Whāriki - Aotearoa New Zealand's Early Childhood Curricu...

Complementary resources

• The Pasifika Education Plan, which is "aimed at raising Pasifika learners’ participation, engagement and achievement from early learning through to tertiary education"
• Registering teacher criteria describe "the essential knowledge and capabilities required for quality teaching in New Zealand. They apply to all teachers in their everyday professional practice seeking to gain full registration, or renew a practising certificate with full registration"
• Guidelines and requirements for Early Childhood Education centre ow..., which provides "advice for ECE centre owners on getting the appropriate endorsement for the renewal of their practising certificate"
• The Quality Journey/He Haerenga Whai Hua: Improving Quality in Earl...- a guide "designed to assist early childhood services in New Zealand to develop quality improvement systems and undertake quality reviews"
• Quality in Action/Te Mahi Whai Hua: Implementing the Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices in New Zealand Early Childhood Services (1998) - overview of early childhood learning principles and practices
• Nga Arohaehae Whai Hua: Self-review Guidelines for Early Childhood ... - a guide that was "designed to encourage early childhood education (ECE) services to adopt a process of self-review that complements external review undertaken by the Education Review Office (ERO) and examines how practice enhances children’s learning and development"
• Education Review Office (ERO) reports for Early Childhood Education, and you can find specific reports here.
• Frameworks and Evaluation Indicators for ERO Reviews - you can find the framework and indicators (.pdf files) for Early Childhood Education by looking at the menu on the right hand side of the page
• Kei Tua o te Pae/Assessment for Learning - "a best practice resource that will help teachers continue to improve the quality of their teaching"
• Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners - a resource explaining competencies teachers need to develop so they can help Māori learners achieve educationally as Māori
• Ka Hikitia - Accelerating Success 2013 -2017 - overview of the "strategy to rapidly change how the education system performs so that all Māori students gain the skills, qualifications and knowledge they need to enjoy and achieve education success as Māori"
• Code of Ethical Conduct for Early Childhood Services - guidelines for each standard, and this resource breaks down the ethics into tabular format.