Te Whāriki translates from the indigenous Māori language of Aotearoa as ‘a woven mat for all to stand on’ and is the national early childhood curriculum in New Zealand (Ministry of Education 1996). As a document it defines overall Principles and Goals for all early childhood programs. As a metaphor, Te Whāriki enables the diverse early childhood services and centers, their teachers, families and children, to ‘weave’ their own curriculum pattern shaped by different cultural perspectives, the age of children, the philosophy or structure of the program. Te Whāriki was the first bicultural curriculum in New Zealand including the dual perspectives of both Māori, and Pākehā (non-Māori) who are mainly European immigrants, but including a large Pacific Islands population and an increasing Asian population. Although the structure of Te Whāriki is bicultural (reflecting the Treaty partnership signed in 1840 between Māori and the British Crown) the curriculum is also multicultural and inclusive of other migrant peoples. For Tilly Reedy (Ngati Porou), a Māori partner on the project, Te Whāriki is about self-determination:
‘Our rights are recognised and so are the rights of everyone else… Te Whāriki recognises my right to choose, and your right to choose too.’ (1995, p. 13)
Sandy Farquhar has written:
‘As a first curriculum for early childhood in Aotearoa, and indeed one of the first internationally, it is remarkable that in an era of right-wing conservatism [in the 1990s], the document was able to capture the spirits of feminism Māori sovereignty, children’s rights and educational theories – at the same time as traversing the path to acceptance.’ (2010, p.150)
Early childhood education in New Zealand
The early childhood years span from birth to school age at five years. On the day of their fifth birthday each child goes to school as a celebrated ‘rite of passage’. Ninety-eight percent of three and four year olds formally attend an early childhood service; at aged one...