Te Whāriki: The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum

Abstract

Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, provides a broad framework of principles and goals that can be used to plan programmes for young children. Since its introduction, over 20 years ago, Te Whāriki has been widely praised by teachers and academics. The generalised and non-specific nature of the document can be seen as both a strength, in allowing for a diverse range of programmes, and a limitation, in failing to provide more specific guidance on important areas of learning. The New Zealand Ministry of Education encourages teachers to design programmes that weave the content of Te Whāriki together with the context of the community in which they are located. Some supplementary resources have been provided to assist teachers, but these, like the curriculum, tend to be generalised and aspirational rather than being focused on the practical realities of using the curriculum. The open nature of the curriculum places responsibility on teachers to facilitate children’s learning as opportunities arise. Such an approach relies on teachers who are well versed in pedagogy and domain content knowledge, but the coverage of these areas in teacher education programmes is variable. Assessment of learning in early childhood centres using Te Whāriki is mostly carried out with Learning Stories, a narrative assessment technique that was designed to align with the principles and goals of the curriculum. Learning Stories can provide insightful descriptions of specific events but have yet to be shown to be a practical and effective means of assessing and enhancing children’s learning. Evaluation of the quality of programmes in centres is often limited by a reliance on Learning Stories as the main source of evidence for children’s learning.