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

kindergarten had been unable to sustain their Tiriti-based curriculum. What was
surprising was how quickly the ground taken had disappeared.
Alison reflected on what was happening with Tiriti-based curriculum
when she left in 2007:
We were still forging relationships with tangata whenua – many more
families used the kindergarten and participated in the community
activities of the kindergarten. We felt there was a real presence in the
kindergarten of Māori. We felt more confident to ask for help and
guidance and were actively trying to move forwards in our understanding
of our role as Pākehā teachers working with Māori (Email, A 19/3/09).
In 2008, during an informal discussion, Brodie indicated to me that not a
lot was happening with the Tiriti-based curriculum and we discussed this further
when I interviewed her by phone in 2009:
We‟re starting back at square one – definitely lost it. ERO reports say
that. We don‟t have huge support from the marae. Families have gone.
It‟s not apparent (Ph, B 13/3/09).
One reason for this loss of active Tiriti-based curriculum was that the
Māori families involved in the kindergarten left to go to school and relationships
had not been sustained. Without the strong leadership that Alison had provided
and the disruption to the centre with staff changes, Tiriti-based practices became
too difficult to sustain. As Brodie said above they were no longer apparent in the
curriculum. The emergent principle is that the team must assume responsibility for
implementing Tiriti-based curriculum so that reliance upon one person is avoided.
Moreover, the recent ERO report had noted that the kindergarten teachers
needed to incorporate bicultural practice into their programme. The teachers,
therefore, have begun to explore ways to do this by re-establishing relationships
with local Māori, one of whom had offered to assist the teachers to develop Tiriti-
based curriculum (Education Review Office, 2009).
Teachers in Case Study Two believed it was their job to implement Tiriti-
based curriculum. They operated from the stance of curriculum being teacher-led
and this enabled them to introduce activities, experiences and te reo Māori during
mat times. The presence of a nearby marae enabled teachers to build relationships
with whānau Māori so that whakawhanaungatanga approach could become an
integral part of the programme.
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