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

At present we have a very supportive group of Māori families at the
centre who acknowledge our commitment and offer their support
especially in te reo as we are a multicultural staffing group (NZ, Iran, Sth
Africa) (R. 413).
Other teachers in this study thought working with a Māori teacher would
be helpful, especially as a role model for te reo Māori. The following quotes typify
that view:
Have Māori staff member present. Use of te reo by staff, not just for
commands and even the odd word (R. 129).
Inclusion of Māori staff (P. 203).
However, this solution of being reliant on Māori staff to deliver Tiriti-
based curriculum is probably not feasible considering that only 8.6% of early
childhood education teachers in mainstream centres are Māori (Education Counts,
2008). Nevertheless, as well as modelling language skills, Māori teachers could
bring their knowledge of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga into the centre, thus
providing authentic experiences. However, one of the difficulties with this
approach is that Māori teachers become solely responsible for ensuring Tiriti-based
pedagogy, based on the assumption that they automatically know about te reo
Māori me ōna tikanga. The following note from a Māori survey respondent aptly
represents the kernel of many conversations I have had with Māori teachers:
I am currently at an under twos centre and I‟m the only teacher with
Māori ancestry. We have books, songs and also use phrases in Māori. I
feel that teachers need to commit to more professional development to
increase knowledge about Māori culture - not just language (R. 122).
Some teachers noted the dilemma that arose from having Māori staff in
their centre. They claimed that when Māori staff provided Tiriti-based curriculum
knowledge, the rest of the staff sometimes became less responsive, as S from Case
Study One explained to us:
Some centres have a person, like in my last two centres I‟ve always had
someone who was really big on biculturalism and te reo, and, I mean, the
downside of that is you can rely on someone else to do it. So that… it
means that it‟s happening within the centre. So I think a resource person
within the centre is quite…so you‟re not depending solely on that person.
And that in itself can affect your confidence too, that if somebody‟s really
good you may stop trying. So if you…it just depends doesn‟t it? (Tr: S,
9/8/04).
receive:
One respondent suggested other forms of help that would be useful to
210