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

and understanding. They reasoned that culturally ineffectual practice was more
likely to be without guidance from Māori. Teachers would thus work at a
superficial level and miss deeper cultural meanings attached to such artefacts. It is
this practice I suspect that gives rise to Heta-Lensen‟s concerns:
Nevertheless, I remain sceptical regarding the ability of mainstream
educational settings to deliver the bicultural dream espoused in Te
Whāriki … I also draw upon fourteen years experience in mainstream
education when I make the claim that Pākehā New Zealand is currently
still failing to realise bicultural education, because for whatever reason,
they still lack the basic understandings necessary to implement Māori
values as part of the organisational structure of their settings. (Heta-
Lensen, 2005, p. 28)
Nevertheless, Tiriti-based environments affirm and respect Māori both
traditionally and currently, through careful selection of resources such as natural
materials (harakeke, porotāwhao), labels in te reo Māori, art work, puzzles, poi,
rakau, and books. Māori suppliers can provide authentic resources. Investigation
of local areas occurred and Case Study One and Case Study Two made excursions 3
into the local communities to investigate sites such as museums, libraries, and
festivals that incorporated Māori knowledge. Visual symbols such as kōwhaiwhai
patterns signal to Māori that their culture is valued (Ritchie, 2007). In this
research, teachers in Case Study One and Case Study Two explored Māori
connections to the local landscape, and displayed children‟s whakapapa. In Case
Study Two, the Māori mother from the marae noticed visual signals on her first
visit to the kindergarten.
Emphasising curriculum activities associated with basic tikanga (such as
taking shoes and hats off inside, not sitting on tables, separate food areas, and
refraining from touching children‟s heads) exemplify best practice. Moreover,
welcoming new and existing whānau of all ethnicities into the centre is an
important way to acknowledge tikanga and this can be accomplished by providing
places (with access to tea and coffee) where whānau feel they belong.
According to Richie (2002b) a welcoming bicultural environment will
encourage Māori to enter centres. However, even if welcomed appropriately,
whānau Māori may no longer have strong traditional links to their culture and
3 It can be quite common for centres to restrict excursions for children under 2 years old, which was the
age group of the children in Case Study Three.
253