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

and dress-ups. Rākau and poi were used to accompany music and dance sessions.
Basic phrases such as kai and whare paku were used by some of the staff.
Children were regularly taken on excursions into the community, where
they visited such places as the library, to read Māori stories. They also watched
Māori cultural festivals, and they explored the local area. Photographic and written
information about these trips were put into children‟s profile books as well as large
themed books, all of which were accessible to the children and their whānau.
The centre teachers reported they had already developed strong
relationships with whānau, because this was integral to their centre philosophy.
However, despite two thirds of the teachers being versed in second language
learning, it was implementing te reo Māori that teachers found the most
challenging, because this was where their skills needed enhancing.
Early in the research, Case Study One staff reflected on their initial
experiences of implementing Tiriti-based curriculum with individual children.
They had experienced mixed reactions including resistance from the children and
having to resolve the differences associated with implementing Tiriti-based
curriculum into a fully child-initiated programme. Although attempts were made
to incorporate Tiriti-based curriculum, there was still some unease as to how this
fitted with a child-initiated philosophy, as D explains her interaction with two
children below:
She wanted to do face painting, so I gave her the card and she started
painting and I showed her a picture of moko and said, „Would you like to
face paint this? Would you like to do this?‟ and she said „No, I want to
be clown‟ …
We put the music on … and said, „Do you want to do haka?‟ He said,
„No thanks.‟ He just looked at me from top to bottom and said, „No
thanks‟ (Tr:D, 1/4/04).
As teachers started tentatively exploring how to make inroads into
implementing Te Tiriti-based curriculum, they perceived their actions as being
directive – an unfamiliar practice. It is possible that it was the new way teachers
were behaving in directing children that resulted in the children‟s rejection, which
was not so much of Tiriti-based curriculum, but rather of their teachers‟ behaviour.
Having activities directed by teachers went against the centre philosophy of being
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