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

informal discussion about implementing Te Whāriki with Case Study Two
participants and one of their association members, I pondered in my journal:
Is it tokenism or the start of a journey? What about those who do nothing
in case what they do is construed as tokenism? (Jl: CJ, 18/5/04).
I was grappling with whether the seemingly small attempts made by early
childhood teachers were tokenistic or whether this was the start of their journey.
However, they were perceived as tokenistic both by themselves and others and
Brodie, from Case Study Two, confirmed my thoughts:
…there‟s that dilemma, the tokenistic approach, but you‟ve got to start
somewhere (Tr: B, 6/8/04).
In the bicultural exemplar project (Ministry of Education, 2004a) one of
the teachers conveyed unease about her Tiriti-based practice. This teacher was
concerned her efforts were tokenistic. Nevertheless, it was clear neither could she
condone the alternative, because as she stated: “Yet to do nothing is worse” (p. 19).
Unfortunately, starting with tentative attempts could be considered tokenism and be
misconstrued by colleagues:
I am saddened at how much „lip service‟ I find among people
proclaiming they want to promote biculturalism but not doing anything
about it (R. 134).
The beginning of Tiriti-based pedagogy appears to start with objects
representative of Māori culture, as these are concrete, visible, accessible and
usable, again leading to accusations of tokenism:
Actually in-depth practice of culture/Te Reo – is not just token – e.g. poi,
kia ora. More in-depth understanding teaching old ways of Māori (R.
412).
Teachers are not only criticised by peers, but also by academics such as
Colbung et al (2007) who state their position that: “all too often, attempts at
providing representation for cultures other than the pervasive western mainstream
culture, are tokenistic and ineffectual, and at worst inaccurate misrepresentations”
(p. 149). It is not surprising that with disapproval like this from peers and
academics, early childhood teachers become concerned that their attempts at
implementing Tiriti-based curriculum will be censured. As one respondent
explained:
The criticism directed at practitioners for what they are doing, or not
doing, does not help, nor is conducive to establishing a positive
partnership. Biculturalism can truly be a reality; there is a lot of
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