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

The second dimension for Tiriti-based curriculum is the imperative that all
children, regardless of their ethnic background, have the chance to know and
understand that “New Zealand is the home of Māori language and culture:
curriculum in education settings should promote te reo and nga tikanga Māori,
making them visible and affirming their value for children from all cultural
backgrounds” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 42).
Regardless, therefore, of the ethnicity of children attending an early
childhood education service, teachers must provide successful Tiriti-based
programmes. The benefits of such programmes can be summed up by the Ministry
of Education whose school curriculum document states that “by learning te reo and
becoming increasingly familiar with tikanga, Māori students strengthen their
identities, while non-Māori journey towards shared cultural understandings”
(Ministry of Education, 2007b, p. 14).
Teachers in this study have illuminated areas which improve chances of
success by building on existing strengths. These include following a whole-of-
centre approach where working as a team with a shared vision can provide support,
and encouragement for successful outcomes. In this study, team cohesiveness was
developed through such activities as sharing food, expressing challenges that
allowed members to show themselves as vulnerable, and exposing self doubt, each
of which contributed to trust building. The importance of teams and team
development cannot be understated and neither can the importance of leadership.
It is crucial, therefore, to have the whole team aligned on the project with
at least one teacher having taken on the commitment to implement Tiriti-based
curriculum. The importance of teachers taking ownership of Tiriti-based
curriculum implementations was revealed especially in Case Study One and Case
Study Two, as both D and Alison role modelled and encouraged their teams to
participate. However, unless individual team members also take ownership of
Tiriti-based curriculum it can cease to be implemented, as happened when Alison
left the centre. This research has shown that for implementation to be effective and
empowering for early childhood teachers, they need to work together and be
heading in the same direction on this journey. In that regard followership is just as
important as leadership (Sergiovanni, 1992).
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