“I think my knowledge of intentional teaching is coming from those around me ...”: Intentional teaching and Te Whāriki

Abstract

The 2017 refresh of Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood education (ECE) curriculum Te Whāriki was undertaken to better guide teachers in understanding their role in supporting children’s learning and to foster alignment of teaching practices, including intentional teaching, across the ECE sector. This article draws on a small-scale research project that explored whether the updated Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017) has been successful with purposely guiding ECE teachers in implementing intentional teaching practices. Findings noted that professional learning and development (PLD) has had an important impact on teachers’ understanding of intentional teaching and so the impact of both PLD and Te Whāriki itself are explored here.