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

where she had participated in bicultural professional development in addition to
spending two years learning te reo Māori.
Table 5.2 Teacher Ethnicity and Qualifications Case Study Two.
Name Ethnicity Qualification
Alison Pākehā B.Ed – NZ, student for Higher
Diploma of Teaching, Registered
Teacher
Brodie Pākehā B.Ed – NZ, Registered Teacher
Kindergarten programmes are based on the child being an active learner in
an environment that creates trust and fosters confidence, so children are able to
become active participants in their own learning. They aim to be responsive to the
cultural and language aspirations of families (New Zealand Kindergartens
Incorporated, 2008). Kindergarten philosophy incorporates being teacher-led. In
other words, Case Study Two teachers were not waiting for the children to discover
Tiriti-based pedagogy but were firmly managing it as it was considered to be
important for them, as teachers, to instigate Tiriti-based action. This is how Alison
described it:
And a really obvious thing is that it‟s really driven by the teachers and
we have to take responsibility, because it won‟t happen, particularly in a
kindergarten which is very middle class and European at the moment.
Nobody else is going to do it (Tr: A, 27/5/04).
Despite the centre being new, connection to the community of local iwi
had been initiated. The kaumātua who blessed the building had been invited to
come to a session or to call in for a coffee and the teachers were keen to develop
this relationship. In addition, links were being made with the playgroup at the local
marae and one of the children from there was on the waiting list to come to
kindergarten.
Within the environment, despite the centre being new and still building
resources, the kindergarten library had stories that were connected to Māori
children‟s lives. There was a basket of poi, pictures on the wall of a wharenui and
of a pōwhiri taking place, and also there was a basket at the door into which
children placed their shoes whilst they were inside. This meant that tikanga Māori
of not wearing shoes indoors was being practiced. I observed that children were
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