Ta'iala mo le Gagana Sāmoa - Pasifika Education Community

So‘oatulau Fa‘alea‘oa‘ogaA Continuum of LearningTe Whāriki and The New Zealand Curriculum present the overarching curriculum policy for earlychildhood education and schools. They outline a continuum of teaching and learning with outcomesto be achieved. When gagana Sāmoa programmes are being planned, it is important to provide fora smooth transition from one setting to the other and from level to level.Both Te Whāriki and The New Zealand Curriculum emphasise the importance of developingcommunication skills and language in the early years. Both describe language in terms of its verbaland non-verbal elements.Language is a vital part of communication. In early childhood, one of the major cultural tasks forchildren is to develop competence in and understanding of language. Language does not consist onlyof words, sentences, and stories: it includes the language of images, art, dance, drama, mathematics,movement, rhythm, and music … Adults should understand and encourage both verbal and non-verbalcommunication styles.Te Whāriki, page 72In learning languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language, develop their capacityto learn further languages, and explore different world views in relation to their own.The New Zealand Curriculum, page 1723Ta‘iala mo le Gagana Sāmoa: The Gagana Sāmoa Guidelines emphasises competence in communication.Teachers in early childhood settings and schools can use its guidelines to plan and offer programmesthat will help learners to develop their skills, knowledge, and competencies progressively and to achievethe specified outcomes.The achievement objectives for schools, from levels 1 to 8, are based on authentic texts and contextsthat learners are likely to encounter in their everyday lives as well as on more specialised use of gaganaSāmoa in particular contexts.