supporting tiriti-based curriculum delivery in mainstream early ...

curriculum in early childhood centres. In addition, because this project was
concerned with Tiriti-based curriculum as stated in Te Whāriki I used an
observation checklist compiled from principles and strands that reflected bicultural
aspects of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996) (see Appendix B). Rolfe
(2001) states that a “checklist can also be used to document characteristics of the
curriculum or of the early childhood setting itself” (p. 227). Each observation
guide was also made available to teachers in Case Study One and Case Study Two
to assist them in their initial evaluation of their Tiriti-based curriculum. In
hindsight it was probably unnecessary to use three observational guides but I
wanted to offer centres a selection from which they could choose. Apart from
myself, the only teachers to use all three were those from Case Study Two and they
used them for guiding their final observation at the end of the study.
Observation is an integral part of evaluating and defining the problem in
action research, so at the beginning of the first two case studies, my preliminary
task, once relationships had been initiated with the teachers, was to observe their
bicultural environment and practices at the centre. I arranged with the teachers
specific times to conduct formal observations using guides to observation described
above. This was in order to confirm, supplement and extend their own knowledge
of the state of their Tiriti-based curriculum. Once I had recorded my observations I
used them to inform evaluative discussions at each centre‟s research meetings.
In regards to Case Study Three no formal observations were carried out by
me as this was not appropriate to the appreciative inquiry method. Nevertheless,
incidental observations of the environment occurred to provide information about
the setting and context in which the research occurred. The initial evaluations at
the start of the research with Case Study One and Case Study Two showed that
there was a gap between what they wanted to achieve and what was already
occurring to implement effective Tiriti-based curriculum. In Case Study Three it
was important for the appreciative inquiry process that teachers focused on was
what was working rather than what was not.
Observations were also planned at the end of each case study action
research cycle, which were conducted in Case Study Two by myself and the
teachers, using the same tools described above. However, when I went to observe
Case Study One at the end of the action research cycles, apart from the
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