Te whakapapa o Te Whāriki
The whakapapa of Te Whāriki
In 1996, Te Whāriki, the world-leading early childhood curriculum framework, was released and has shaped early learning in Aotearoa since this time. This resource provides a brief history of the early learning curriculum, Te Whāriki.
See Materials that come with this resource at the end of the page to download:
- Te Whāriki a te Kōhanga Reo (.pdf)
- Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa (.pdf)
- Te-Whāriki-A2-poster-te-ara-whānui-and-te-ara-Māori (.pdf).
- The history of Te Whāriki (1996)
- Refreshing Te Whāriki
- Te Ara Whānui and Te Ara Māori
First published in 1996, Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa Early childhood curriculum, provides a celebrated framework that has shaped our distinct approach to early learning in Aotearoa. It broke new ground internationally as a national curriculum founded on an indigenous conceptual framework that incorporated Māori and Western principles of learning and teaching.
An overarching aspiration statement formed a foundation for all early childhood services, from which each service would create its own localised curriculum. It viewed all mokopuna 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.” (Te Whāriki p. 7)
The quotes below capture the significance of the name.
“The title, Te Whāriki, suggested by Sir Tamati Reedy, was a central metaphor. The early childhood curriculum was envisaged as a whāriki [which] translated as a woven mat for all to stand on. The Principles, Strands and Goals provided the framework which allowed for different programme perspectives to be woven into the fabric.” (Te One, p. 17)
"Whāriki and raranga have symbolic and spiritual meaning for Māori. Weaving a whāriki takes knowledge, skill, and time. It is almost always done collaboratively. When finished, an intricately woven whāriki is a taonga valued for its artistry and kaupapa … The whāriki can also be understood as a metaphor for the developing child. Interpreted in this way, as in Te Whāriki a te Kōhanga Reo, the whāriki includes four dimensions of human development: tinana, hinengaro, wairua and whatumanawa.” (Te Whāriki, p. 10)
Te Whāriki was developed in response to a changing society. There were growing concerns regarding the lack of educational success for tamariki Māori, the increasing privatisation of early childhood education, and the lack of acknowledgement of multiple cultural perspectives. Te Whāriki had the possibility of providing a bicultural and holistic view of learning that encompassed more than the early childhood setting.
Before Te Whāriki was developed, there were a wide variety of early childhood services, all using their own guiding curriculum documents. Te Whāriki sought to unify a diverse sector around a shared aspiration for children.
An agreed framework of principles, strands, and goals was written that kaiako, children, families, communities, whānau, iwi, and hapū would use to weave their own unique curriculum whāriki. This provided the basis for consistent, high-quality curriculum delivery in the diverse range of early childhood services in New Zealand.
After years of background discussion papers, working documents, and working groups, four lead writers began work on Te Whāriki – Sir Tamati Reedy, Lady Tilly Reedy, Emeritus Professor Helen May, and Professor Margaret Carr.
Te Whāriki: Draft Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Programmes in Early Childhood Services (Ministry of Education, 1993a) was released in November 1993 and sent to all early childhood training providers, organisations, and centres for trial. The consultation and feedback from this led to the final version of Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa Early childhood curriculum being released in 1996.
Dr Sarah Te One explains this in chapter 1 (‘Te Whariki: Historical accounts and contemporary influences 1990−2012’) of her book, Weaving Te Whāriki.
“Even before work on Te Whāriki began, the Rūnanga Matua had identified concepts central to the promotion of mana Māori in education. Seeing Te Whāriki as a guide to ‘fulfilling the intent of the Treaty of Waitangi’, the Rūnanga proposed ‘an infusion approach … whereby mana tangata, mana atua, mana whenua and mana o te reo are considered as key factors’ (Correspondence from Rūnanga Matua to Ministry of Education). Thus, the final form of Te Whāriki had its beginnings in Māori pedagogical and philosophical beliefs.” (Te One, p. 11)
Te Whāriki became the first Ministry of Education document published in both Māori and English. From the outset, the writers of Te Whāriki were committed to producing a document that honoured the Treaty of Waitangi.” (Te One, p. 13)
“The implications of this were profound. The Māori curriculum was not to be an ‘add-on’, nor was it to be ‘integrated’: it was to be separate. This fundamental shift gave new status to Māori pedagogy within early childhood education.” (Te One, p. 14)
Te Whāriki was also the first mandated early learning curriculum inclusive of infants and toddlers.
Carr and May (1994: 26) state, "It was perhaps the first time that the word "curriculum" was applied nationally to all early childhood, to all services and to all ages from birth to school age." This document defined curriculum as "the sum total of all children's direct and indirect learning experiences in early childhood services." (cited in Carr & May, 1994: 26) (Mutch, 2004: 6).
References
Te One, S. (2013). Te Whāriki: Historical accounts and contemporary influences 1990−2012. In Weaving Te Whāriki – Aotearoa New Zealand's Early Childhood Curriculum Document in Theory and Practice (pp. 7-29 ). Wellington, NZCER Press
Mutch, C. (2004) The Rise and Rise of Early Childhood Education in New Zealand Journal Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2004
- Te Whāriki turns 20,
This video was created by NZEI Te Riu Roa in 2016. Here writers and practitioners reflect on the origins and impact of a world leading document 20-years-on. - Lady Tilly Reedy on 20 years of Te Whāriki
- Te Whāriki: Historical accounts and contemporary influences 1990−2012,
In this chapter from Weaving Te Whāriki – Aotearoa New Zealand's Early Childhood Curriculum Document in Theory and Practice, Dr Sarah Te One documents the emergence of Te Whāriki from the conceptual origins to its release. - Te Whāriki 1996. A link to a pdf of the original early childhood curriculum document.
This resource provides a history of Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa Early childhood curriculum from the 1990s to the current day.