Ngā pēpi me ngā nohinohi – Infants and toddlers

Underpinning Te Whāriki is an image of all children 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” (p. 6).  

 Te Whāriki identifies three overlapping age ranges:  

• pēpi (infants – birth to 18 months) 
• nohinohi (toddlers – one to three years)  
• kōhungahunga (young children – two and a half years to school entry).  

While acknowledging that “all children are different and their learning trajectories are influenced by the social and cultural context” (p. 13), Te Whāriki highlights there are also typical characteristics and patterns in the early years of development. 

Infants

During infancy, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional growth and development occur more rapidly than at any other time of life. This period lays down pathways in the brain and establishes intentions and orientations that will support all future learning.

Infants learn rapidly and rely on attentive adults to meet their individual needs. Care activities like feeding and changing are important moments for infants to learn trust and that they are worthy of love.

It is crucial for kaiako to respect infants' rights and empower them to make choices for themselves, as appropriate. For many children, their first experience in early childhood settings happens during infancy, which is a big change for them, their parents, and their whānau.

Infants’ growing interests and capabilities 

• From the moment they're born, infants communicate their needs and start to anticipate events. They depend on kaiako to notice their signals and gestures and respond to them sensitively.
• Infants are rapidly developing communication skills, which kaiako support by engaging with them in serve and return (back and forth) interactions within a language rich environment.
• Infants are learning to trust that their holistic needs will be met in predictable ways. They seek reassurance from a familiar adult nearby.
• Infants learn best through respectful interactions with people, their environment, and objects. They thrive in a calm setting where teachers are warm and pay close attention to how much sensory stimulation they are exposed to.
• Because infants' health and well-being can change rapidly, they benefit from consistent and attentive care to ensure their needs are met effectively.

Toddlers

Toddlers are in the process of forming their own identities as independent learners. They might be entering an early childhood setting for the first time or transitioning between different environments. They are learning how to handle the expectations they face in various situations. Their natural curiosity drives them to explore and understand the world around them, as they seek more independence and the ability to have an impact on their world. Familiar and caring kaiako who know and appreciate them can help support this journey.

Toddlers are rapidly developing their physical, social, cognitive, and language skills. They thrive in settings with plenty of opportunities to interact with people, explore different places, and engage with various objects, all of which contribute to their growth and development.

Toddlers’ growing interests and capabilities 

• Toddlers are active and curious, eager to explore and understand their environment. They enjoy testing boundaries and experimenting with cause and effect, which helps them refine their understanding of how things work. Kaiako support toddlers by paying attention to their interests and providing opportunities for both new learning experiences and repetition.
• Toddlers communicate using sounds, words and gestures, and they are rapidly developing both their understanding and use of language. Toddlers’ language development can be supported through active participation in conversations, storytelling, songs, and lots of body movement.
• Toddlers are learning to manage their emotions, which can sometimes be intense and unpredictable. Kaiako help toddlers to develop self-regulation skills by staying calm themselves, offering toddlers choices, and empowering them to make decisions.
• Toddlers learn by observing, exploring, and interacting with others. They are increasingly learning to socialise and able to take on leadership roles in cultural practices and everyday activities. Kaiako encourage this leadership role and provide a range of opportunities for social interaction and exploration.

Te Whāriki supports infants’ and toddlers’ rights to health, safety and happiness. These rights include the right to high-quality care and education and to be valued as active and competent members of society. Within Te Whāriki the child is viewed as a citizen with rights in the present. These rights include: 

• the right to be   
• the right to belong  
• the right to become   
• the right to enjoy   
• the right to choose  

“Kaiako work to uphold and protect children’s rights, interests, and points of view from the earliest ages. They recognise children as citizens and preserve their dignity while building their mana and supporting them to build the mana of others” (Te Whāriki, p. 61).  

Contemporary infant and toddler research highlights the importance of responsive and close relationships in laying the foundation for learning and development.  

In high-quality early learning settings, kaiako ensure that infants and toddlers experience being cared for and cared about. This requires:   

• a calm, predictable, safe, and healthy environment  
• sensitive, responsive, trusting and predictable interactions between consistent adults and the children  
• a high level of kaiako qualification, knowledge, and commitment to infant and toddler care and education   
• policy infrastructure and centre leadership supportive of low adult-child ratios; small group sizes; and positive working conditions  
• a curriculum and programme focussed on nurturing the strengths, interests, learning and development of infants and toddlers  
• a willingness by kaiako to work in respectful, collaborative partnership with parents and whānau, including to co-design and implement curriculum.  

The Whānau tangata | Family and community principle of Te Whāriki recognises that family and community are integral to the learning and development of infants and toddlers. Every child is situated within a set of nested contexts that includes the early childhood setting and the child’s whānau, community, and culture.  

Central to Te Whāriki  is an understanding that culture shapes ideas of childhood, child development, and quality infant and toddler provision. Culture encompasses beliefs about child-rearing practices, unique images of the child, and relationships. All cultural groups have “specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions” (Te Whāriki, p. 20) that are valued in relation to child-rearing and development.  

Quality culturally responsive practices for infants and toddlers that help kaiako take practical action to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi involve using practices and pedagogies that reflect te ao Māori (Māori world), identities, and values. These practices include providing for:   

• whakapapa (lineage, genealogy, ancestry) knowledge and connections to hapū (tribe or subtribe), iwi (extended kinship group, tribe, people), and tīpuna (ancestors, forebears)  
• communal and collective caregiving practices such as tuākana-tēina partnering, where an older or more knowledgeable child supports the learning of a younger or less knowledgeable child   
• traditional waiata, oriori (lullabies, chants), and pakiwaitara (traditional stories).  

Cultural learning occurs through observation and participation. Kaiako who understand this well regularly ask themselves and each other, “How is this practice contributing positively to the identity, language, culture, wellbeing, and belonging of tamariki in this early childhood service?”  

Whakamana | Empowerment 

The principle of Whakamana | Empowerment emphasises the importance of children experiencing a curriculum that enhances their mana and supports them to enhance the mana of others.  

Māori images of the child highlight that all children are born with mana (a spiritual trait) inherited from their ancestors. Mana is the power of being and is integral to children’s well-being, development, creativity, and sense of themselves as confident and competent learners.  

Children’s mana is enhanced when they are supported to develop relationships and make friends, be respectful and take responsibility for themselves and others, and explore their worlds. Children express their mana through showing kindness, caring, and expressing love and affection.  

The development of mana is supported when kaiako: 

• encourage infants’ and toddlers’ agency to explore, investigate, and express themselves freely  
• bring to their interactions an expectation that all infants and toddlers will be kind, caring, and keen to learn  
• provide opportunities for Whakamana to happen in everyday activities and practice  
• are attuned and respond with expression and respect to infants’ and toddlers’ cues, gestures, and verbal communication.  

Whānau Tangata | Family and community 

The principle of Whānau Tangata | Family and community highlights the role of whānau, hapū, iwi, and the wider community in the learning and development of children. Traditional Māori caregiving practices and beliefs can support culturally responsive early childhood provision for infants and toddlers. These practices and beliefs are located within specific whānau and communities. Developing meaningful relationships with the service’s whānau and community is therefore a priority.  

Infants and toddlers are more likely to develop long-lasting, positive attitudes towards their identity and their learning when parents and whānau and kaiako work in tandem. This is especially true if talk of their care and learning is a regular part of the shared conversation. Such a focus supports the transference and continuity of infants’ and toddlers’ interests and experiences between home and early childhood settings. When things feel familiar to infants and toddlers, wellbeing, curiosity, and competence are more likely to flourish. 

  The development of Whānau Tangata is supported when kaiako: 

• practise respectful and authentic relationships with whānau and the wider learning community as a most treasured and valued aspect of an early learning setting  
• welcome infants and toddlers into the environment, recognising the beliefs, values, and history of the whānau  
• suspend judgement and take time to listen, respond, and act upon parent and whānau aspirations and concerns  
• offer sound professional knowledge and guidance when it is asked for by parents and whānau.  

Kotahitanga | Holistic development 

The principle of Kotahitanga | Holistic development frames human development as a weaving of social and cultural dimensions and recognises that children experience their world: 

• a-hinengaro (cognitively) 
• a-tinana (physically) 
• a-whatumanawa (emotionally) 
• a-wairua (spirituality). 

The spiritual dimension is fundamental to holistic development in that it connects to all the other dimensions. Kotahitanga is expressed in ways that infants and toddlers engage with ā-wairua, being peaceful and loving, communicating in their own ways with their worlds.  

The nature of learning and development is holistic. Emotional, social, and cognitive development are all equally important aspects to consider in creating effective learning environments for infants and toddlers.  

The development of Kotahitanga is supported when kaiako: 

• take time to know and understand the varying cultures and characteristics that infants and toddlers and their family and whānau bring to a setting  
• weave this knowledge into their curriculum for infants' and toddlers' learning 
• draw on emerging research showing that healthy brain development involves a combination of cognitive, social, and emotional learning 
• capitalise on infants’ and toddlers’ natural tendency for playfulness, experimentation, and curiosity. 

Ngā hononga | Relationships 

Ngā hononga | Relationships is about the way children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things. In high-quality contexts for infants and toddlers, each of these three elements is thoughtfully considered from a rights and responsibility perspective.  

Connections to the past, present, and future are integral to a Māori perspective on relationships. This includes relationships to tīpuna (ancestors, forebears) who have passed on and connections through whakapapa to maunga (mountains), awa (rivers), moana (sea), whenua (land), and marae. 

Traditional Māori cultural practices, such as waiata (songs, chants), mōteatea (traditional Māori waiata), and pepeha (set form of words or speech), have been used for generations to support children’s learning about themselves and their place in the world. For example, oriori (lullabies) were repeatedly sung to infants to affirm who they were, their preciousness, whānau aspirations for them, and how they should be treated. Pakiwaitara (traditional Māori stories) supported children’s understandings of culturally valued traits, competencies, behavioural aspirations, and norms, as well as their physical and spiritual connectedness to tīpuna and whenua. 

The development of Ngā hononga is supported when kaiako: 

• plan activities and events that foster tuākana-tēina relationships, where an older or more knowledgeable child supports the learning of a younger or less knowledgeable child, while also recognising the unplanned, everyday expressions of these relationships 
• offer a calm and attractive environment rich in the symbols, language, and cultural practices of the infants and toddlers in the setting 
• balance the rights of infants and toddlers to direct their own learning with developing their responsibilities to protect people, places, and things from harm 
• make links with the past, present, and future in curriculum design and implementation. 

Early learning leaders are responsible for providing guidance and support for infants, toddlers, and their families and whānau entering a setting. This responsibility requires qualities of kindness, humility, and respect.  

Leaders play a pivotal role in: 

• making sure that robust settling and transitioning policies and procedures are created and maintained to minimise the stress for children, whānau, and kaiako during these crucial stages.  
• embedding cultural responsiveness in all aspects of infant and toddler pedagogy and practice, which includes supporting kaiako to pay particular attention to culturally valued knowledge, values, and beliefs.  
• fostering innovation and excellence in their teaching teams through professional learning, curriculum inquiry, and internal evaluation.  
• making sure that assessment for children is in keeping with Te Whāriki and reflects the special characteristics of infants and toddlers.  
• providing kaiako with the support, resources, and professional learning necessary to equip them to confidently articulate infants’ and toddlers’ learning and development.  
• supporting kaiako to create an environment that is an attractive, natural, and safe place for infants and toddlers to grow and learn. This will include creating protected spaces to which children may retreat. Leaders are responsible for ensuring that aesthetics are maintained and respected.  
• actively promoting an environment and practices where infants and toddlers can grow their understanding of kaitiakitanga (guardianship, environmental stewardship) and healthy risk-taking.