Te Whāriki update needs PD to back it up

12 April 2017

NZEI members are heartened that the mana of Te Whārik has been upheld in a major update today and we will now focus on ensuring educators get the professional development they need to use the updated curriculum to help children learn.

“Te Whāriki is a globally regarded early childhood education curriculum which is hugely important to educators in New Zealand and the world over,” NZEI executive member and kindergarten head teacher Virginia Oakly said.

“Our position remains the same; the people best placed to articulate child progress in early childhood teacher-led services are qualified ECE teachers drawing upon current pedagogy.

“Te Whāriki shapes all our work with children in early childhood education. For us, any changes to Te Whāriki are hugely significant.

“Its great that the Education Minister has acknowledged the need for professional development to help in the roll out of the curriculum.

"However we are not convinced that $4 million allows every educator the resources and time they need to really understand the new document, and we will talk to our members further about this.

"There are still questions about the reduction down to 20 learning outcomes and what this means for our place in the international education community as leaders of ECE pedagogy and guardians of Te Whāriki.

“However, alignment between the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa appears strengthened with the articulation of those connections via “the weaving.”

"It’s heartening to see that most of the sector feedback has been taken on board. We would like to recognise the contributions of the original authors through the editing process.

“It is also good to see the positive curriculum-based statements about assessment and evaluation particularly at a time when global assessment trends are promoting a narrowing of assessment practice.

"The inclusive education content honours the diversity of tamariki and acknowledges Te Ao Maori views," Ms Oakly said.

ends

© Scoop Media