On the review of Te Whāriki - Lynley Tulloch

Currently New Zealand’s internationally acclaimed Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum Te Whāriki He Whāriki Mātauranga mo ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa is in the process of being updated. And it is not a just trivial tinkering of this world-class document, but rather a major rewrite.

Like a piece of meat submerged in a pool of hungry piranhas, the original Te Whāriki document has a ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ quality about it. The new draft is just over half the size, with many pages being taken up with glossy pictures of children in nature (completely at odds with the lack of attention paid to the natural environment and sustainability).

This review should be a matter of enormous public interest – after all our tamariki (or children) are a national taonga (treasure). In addition, Te Whāriki is held in high esteem and used with pride by most early childhood educators (Kaiako) in New Zealand. Yet this review has received very little media attention.

Coupled with limited publicity, the ‘update’ has been remarkably speedy. Members of the writing team were appointed in June 2015 (when the advisory committee on Early Learning recommended an update). The first meeting with wider ECE community and the public was only held on 15 November 2016.The deadline for submissions is on the draft is 14th December 2016.

In addition, the writing process appears much more shallow and rushed; having been written by academic ‘experts’ selected by the Ministry of Education, rather than the ECE community.

That hardly seems fair - to butcher and remake a curriculum - without adequate and timely consultation with those expected to implement it.

In contrast the original Te Whāriki document was drafted in 1993 and finalised in 1996. It was characterised by a broad and deep consultation process with diverse groups across the ECE sector over a period of years. It is a fluid and nuanced document, based on deep knowledge of how preschool children learn, grow and flourish in communities and other social contexts.

So it should not really be surprising that the new draft curriculum document has been received with some unhappiness by many early childhood educators and other interested parties. Despite its glossy brochure-like good looks, there is a feeling that we have lost an inherent joy, richness, colurful multi-layered and open approach.

At the heart of this unease is the observation that the draft represents a regulatory and prescriptive approach. The learning outcomes have been reduced from 118 down to 20 and are written in definitive terms detailing precisely what a child knows and what a child can show.

What this current update of Te Whāriki could mean for the children of New Zealand is that their pre-school education is shaped by a ‘tick-box’ approach - rather than one that is open-ended, play and discovery based. The new document includes assessment styles that link to the performativity model of education. It opens the door for testing. In my view this is both dreadful and draconian.

New Zealand preschool Kaiako generally favour a responsive and relationship based teaching and learning approach. This does not appear to be respected in the review.

Further, the new draft of Te Whāriki has a patronising tone. The earlier document engaged ECE practitioners in critical thought with plenty of examples and with open questions for reflection.

Another area of concern for early childhood Kaiako is the loss of a focus on the principles – ‘Holistic Development’, ‘Empowerment’, ‘Family and Community’ and ‘Relationships’. While these are still included in the new draft, they are in smaller writing and appear overlaid by (rather than interwoven) in the new whariki (woven mat) image

The irony of this is that the construction of the new draft itself has been disempowering. It has been non-holistic and lacked genuine consultation that would build trusting relationships with the families, communities, and educators. Rather it is part of a wider trend of de- professionalising educators and treating our tamariki like fodder for the capitalist grist mill.

It does seem a little Grinch-like that the Kaiako and tamariki of New Zealand are about to have their proposed futures altered so radically this close to Christmas.

A performativity model of schooling has already infiltrated our primary sector as evidenced in National Standards and the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. To impose this kind of pressure and rigidity on the very young is tyrannical.

Lynley Tulloch has recently submitted her PhD at the University of Waikato, which was based on educational policy analysis. She is also working in the field of early childhood education.

© Scoop Media