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

2.3.2 Philosophy
From the start it was envisioned that “Te Whāriki would not be about
content, but would provide a framework for action guided by philosophical
principles” (Te One, 2003, p. 32). Nevertheless, this emphasis on philosophical
principles has been problematic. As noted, developing a philosophical guideline
de-emphasised content. Moreover, as noted in chapter 1, May (2001) stated one of
the purposes of developing this particular „curriculum‟ document was to “articulate
a philosophy of quality early childhood practice” (p. 243).
One useful and simple definition of philosophy is that it represents a
particular system, or set of, beliefs (Hawkins & Allen, 1991). An educational
philosophy constructs these beliefs from those things valued in the culture of its
community. In developing an educational philosophy, values of a culture are
incorporated, often by the state and educational experts in order to reflect the best
aspects of that culture (Winch & Gingell, 2004). Te Whāriki is grounded in the
values of Aotearoa New Zealand being a bicultural society based on Te Tiriti o
Waitangi (Ritchie, 2003).
Moreover, according to Winch and Gingell (2004), philosophies of
education are based on the premise that education is preparation for a good life: for
people to be able to make personal choices in relation to civic understandings and
vocationally “as agents of economic activity” (Winch & Gingell, 2004, p. 6).
Peters (1973), in lamenting the neglect of education by philosophers, also noted
that philosophers previously “explained what the good life and the good society
were; and this provided aims for educationalists” (p. 122). Aligned with these
beliefs about the nature of philosophy, I contend that preparation for the “good
life” is contained within Te Whāriki‟s aspiration for children “to grow up as
competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and
spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a
valued contribution to society” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 9). Given the
absence of prescriptive Tiriti-based curriculum within Te Whāriki, the argument
that Te Whāriki is more about philosophy than curriculum is, therefore,
strengthened.
In addition, O‟Connor (1957) states that “philosophy is not in the ordinary
sense of the phrase a body of knowledge but rather an activity of criticism or
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