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

At first glance there seems to be a large consensus about the areas to be
addressed in early childhood education. With 'emotional, personal and
social development', 'communication and language', 'knowledge and
understanding of the world', 'expressive and aesthetic development' and
'physical development and movement'…competencies that transcend the
traditional subject related categories, that is, to 'life skills'. Alongside
social competence and emotional intelligence, dispositions such as
creativity and imagination, self-organisation, agency or entrepreneurship
are getting more attention” (Laevers, 2005, p. 18 emphasis added).
Once again, holism has become super-ordinate to content. My argument
is that this facet of contemporary practice is problematic because with regard to
Tiriti-based curriculum, teachers lack the prior knowledge and understanding that
is a pre-requisite to achieving successful bicultural implementation.
McGee has developed a curriculum model that proposes five elements. (See
Figure 2.2). The model can be entered from any point and is designed to enable the
teacher to move on to any other point within the model, horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally. When using these five elements teachers make decisions about situational
analysis, intentions and objectives, content to be studied, learning and teaching activities,
and evaluation of teaching and learning. McGee (2001, p. 86) defined curriculum as
involving “planning, engaging children in learning, focussing experiences, and improving
knowledge”. Whilst McGee is referring to primary school curriculum, his definition as a
model could also apply generally to all levels of education including early childhood.
Figure 2.2 Curriculum Model (Source: McGee, 1997, p. 44)
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