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

Table 2.1 Comparison of Deficit and Appreciative Approaches.
Appreciative Approaches Deficit Model
Professional Development. Practitioners lack confidence,
knowledge and skills.
Whānau approach. Lack of fluency in te reo Māori.
Qualifications provide
knowledge.
Lack of models to inform teachers
on implementation.
Māori involvement. Insufficient time, resources and
funding.
Welcoming processes. Pākehā not equipped to implement
Tiriti-based curriculum.
Cultural diversity of staff Lack of theoretical knowledge.
Environment. Lack of understanding of culture –
seen in terms of artefacts.
Not a „recipe‟ approach”. Multicultural approach.
Unique curriculum can be coconstructed
with whānau
Māori.
Te Whāriki blurs philosophy and
curriculum – it lacks information on
content.
Team Approach. Concern for demands on Māori.
Courage and leadership. Fear.
Early childhood teachers work in teams in their centres. The Ministry
used to fund a whole-of-centre approach through the Centres of Innovation
projects; however, I could find little in the literature about team research in regards
to early childhood. In the research by Dalli (2008) responding teachers emphasised
teamwork. Dalli sums up their survey feedback by stating “When working with
colleagues, the desired quality emphasised by teachers was teamwork. This phrase
dominated the statements of most teachers” (para 41).
As far as I could determine, prior to my starting this research no one in
Aotearoa New Zealand had researched a whole-of-centre approach with teachers
who were implementing Tiriti-based curriculum to determine whether this could be
more effective. With their latest research project of narrative interviews with
children and their whānau, Ritchie and Rau (2008), encouraged practitioner co-
researchers to work in teams within their centres. However, as one co-researcher,
explained “I have to say that I‟ve probably coerced my team members into being
part of this process” (p. 15). In another centre, when the co-researcher discussed
her expectations of the research with the team, she noted “the feeling I got from
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