30.06.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Br<strong>in</strong>g Māori people <strong>in</strong>to the centre to support the teachers e.g. with<br />

weav<strong>in</strong>g skills, songs etc. Work closer with Māori people <strong>in</strong> the<br />

community (R. 133).<br />

Whilst these suggestions are useful, research by Heta-Lensen (2005)<br />

Ritchie (2002b) and Ritchie and Rau (2006b) suggests that a more effective way to<br />

achieve Māori experiences <strong>in</strong> centres which are authentic is through relationships<br />

teachers build, first with Māori children and from there, with whānau Māori. This<br />

is the whakawhanaungatanga approach.<br />

6.4.6 Whanaungatanga<br />

Build<strong>in</strong>g relationships with the children and their whānau is crucial for<br />

well-be<strong>in</strong>g and a sense of belong<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>early</strong> childhood education services<br />

(M<strong>in</strong>istry of Education, 1996). In terms of Tiriti-<strong>based</strong> <strong>curriculum</strong> establish<strong>in</strong>g and<br />

build<strong>in</strong>g relationships <strong>in</strong>volves whanaungatanga and there are two aspects to this<br />

concept. First, mak<strong>in</strong>g all families welcome, so they belong, is <strong>in</strong>tegral to <strong>early</strong><br />

childhood education centres, because relationships of trust and power shar<strong>in</strong>g are<br />

fundamental. Second, there is the more traditional notion of<br />

whakawhanaungatanga, and this is what Ritchie and Rau (2006b) describe as<br />

“build<strong>in</strong>g relationships with Māori families” (p. 6). The po<strong>in</strong>t to note here is that<br />

the second dimension is Māori specific.<br />

JB from Case Study One described the <strong>in</strong>clusivity of all families as be<strong>in</strong>g<br />

bicultural. For her, the essence of whanaungatanga was embedded <strong>in</strong> centre<br />

practices for all parents, but did not necessarily <strong>in</strong>corporate te reo Māori me ōna<br />

tikanga. In Case Study One, D noted ways <strong>in</strong> which teachers sought to <strong>in</strong>clude<br />

whānau <strong>in</strong> their programmes:<br />

Each term celebrat<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong>vit<strong>in</strong>g families and whānau to discuss their<br />

child‟s achievements. Encourag<strong>in</strong>g parents‟ voice <strong>in</strong> programme<br />

plann<strong>in</strong>g. Parent‟s contribution through newsletter, resources,<br />

suggestions (Jl: D, 3/04).<br />

Thus, whanaungatanga approaches, which engender respect for all<br />

families are achievable, even if the deep reciprocal relationship with whānau Māori<br />

is not present, because there are no Māori children <strong>in</strong> the centre. D, from Case<br />

Study One, expla<strong>in</strong>s how this non-ethnicity <strong>based</strong> whanaungatanga happened <strong>in</strong><br />

their centre:<br />

The th<strong>in</strong>g is that sense of belong<strong>in</strong>g. The moment parents and whānau<br />

feel they belong here and they have an important role to play, that is<br />

211

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!