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

Specific details are needed for those who have limited te reo tikanga, with
achievable strategies for implementing Tiriti-based curriculum.
Although Ritchie and Rau state that “the examples of assessment in this
booklet provide some aspirational examples of programmes that validate Māori
values, as well as stories that highlight some non-Māori teachers' reflections about
bicultural challenges” (Ritchie & Rau, 2008, p. 10), I have to point out that
exemplars do not go far enough. Although all exemplars (apart from one 3 ) had as a
starting point a Māori child, parent or setting and/or fluency in te reo Māori, such a
scenario does not hold for the majority of mainstream early childhood centres,
creating limitations for teachers from those centres. Of the children who attended
early childhood services in 2007, 19% identified as Māori, and of the teaching staff
in teacher-led services only 8% were Māori (Education Counts, 2007). It is not
known how many of the children, their whānau and the teachers were at the time
knowledgeable about te reo Māori me ōna tikanga.
The one exemplar that demonstrates a similar context to that found in
many mainstream centres focuses on a Māori story that a child learned during a trip
to Rotorua and Taupo. If there is an expectation that non-Māori teachers will also
implement Tiriti-based curriculum then exemplars need to more closely mirror
their circumstances. In other words, the exemplars need to be attainable as the one
about the child telling the Māori story demonstrates.
I reason, therefore, that teachers would welcome specific narratives which
reflect the circumstances of teachers who have limited te reo Māori me ōna
tikanga. Nevertheless, the exemplars do advise that in working with bicultural
assessments, teachers will be uncertain and will, therefore, need to take risks. The
document notes that there is no single pathway to achieving bicultural assessments
because there are many perspectives to bicultural assessment practices. Hence,
celebrating the journey is important, which is fundamental to an appreciative
inquiry approach.
That notwithstanding, even with Ministry support, not only through the
documents reviewed above, but also through such other measures as professional
development contracts, researchers report that practitioners continue to struggle to
3 Hatupatu and the birdwomen (Ministry of Education, 2004a)
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