Early Childhood Folio vol. 22 no. 1 (2018)

This article emphasises some of the shifts highlighted by the Ministry of Education in the refreshed Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa—Early Childhood Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) (Te Whāriki 2017). Some of those shifts include the ideas of Te Whāriki 2017 being a curriculum for all children, having a stronger bicultural framing, the intentionality of curriculum design, the importance of community engagement, the centrality of… Read more

This article considers the potential of the recently “refreshed” Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, focusing on how the document responds to three serious concerns: the ongoing challenges of honouring the commitments to Māori made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi; the more recent issue of superdiversity; and the climate-change crisis and the associated need for education to address ways of living sustainably on a finite planet. This discussion is bookended by a reflection on… Read more

Teachers’ pedagogical knowledge is often evident in mantra-like phrases that act as shortcut explanations for professional actions, or as principles of practice. Five key mantras for good practice in infant and toddler settings, accumulated from theory and research, are discussed to unpack pedagogical imperatives in Te Whāriki 2017 and articulate elements of their theoretical and evidence base. The mantras are: (i) sensitive responsive caregiving; (ii) watch, listen, act and adapt… Read more

Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki includes the explanation that “A weaver weaves in new strands of harakeke or pandanus as their whāriki expands…” (Ministry of Education, 2017, inside cover). The joining of new material to the whāriki symbolises new learning. This metaphor of a continued weaving offers a particular approach to understanding learning pathways as children transition to school. This article discusses transition in the light of this metaphor… Read more

The revised version of Te Whāriki (2017) acknowledges children’s rights to exercise some agency in their own lives. This article responds by drawing on the author’s research in four spatially diverse early childhood education centres to consider how built environments can influence children’s agency. It argues that spatial complexity creates opportunities for children to exercise agency. The research findings challenge us to rethink approaches to both the “supervision” of children… Read more

Early childhood curricula are designed to provide young children with a range of experiences and interactions in order to grow their knowledge, skills, and dispositions for learning. New Zealand early childhood teachers typically aim to provide rich play and learning experiences which foreground children’s interests, position teachers as facilitative, and where extensive teacher engagement within children’s play may be perceived as undesirable interference. This passive positioning of… Read more