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

as Peggy feeling unsupported in this instance by a colleague, so too can colleagues
resent being called upon to provide support:
I was not happy when the other staff called me to participate and sing. I
was thinking why can‟t she sing without me? It is true that I am learning
Māori as a module for my studies. Everybody should take ownership and
practise (Jl: S, 08).
The team approach I considered essential in effective implementation of
Tiriti-based curriculum does mean that teachers support each other‟s efforts.
Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic for this to be effective all the time. All
working relationships have their rocky moments and early childhood teaching
teams are no exception to this. As Shani reflected on being called upon to support
other teachers, she noted:
I am keen to be a really good early childhood teacher. I like team work,
but as early childhood teachers we need to take ownership and work
confidently. I learned from Code of Ethics to work co-operatively with
colleagues in the school environment (Code of Ethics, 1995). This way I
believe the other staff should sing without disturbing me and if they are
not sure should clarify when I am free other than disturbing me. What
next: Next time I will ask the other teachers to sing without me. I will tell
them I will listen and tell them if there is anything wrong. I will make
sure that they practise confidently (Jl: Si, 08).
She had worked through what happened and was able to consider a
strategy that would support both herself and the other teachers. In other words she
was working from an appreciative model for dealing with the inevitable difficulties
that can arise.
In Case Study Three teachers had developed a philosophy of working with
infants that prioritised how they role modelled te reo Māori. They believed it was
important to provide words and phrases both in te reo Māori and English for the
children who were in the language acquisition stage of development. Furthermore,
with appreciative inquiry used to work out implementation of Tiriti-based
curriculum, teachers in Case Study Three built on their successes. With the
confidence this gave them they planned to move beyond their own area to role
model Tiriti-based curriculum within the rest of the centre. Although they
encountered difficulties, these were resolved through consideration of positive
strategies.
Thus far, this chapter has presented an overview composition of each
centre and how the ethos of those centres contributed to the implementation of
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