An overview of early childhood care and education provision in ‘mainstream’ settings, in relation to kaupapa Māori curriculum and policy expectations Jenny Ritchie [electronic resource] /

This paper provides a brief overview of the history of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Aotearoa New Zealand, before proceeding to discuss the range of documents produced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education in relation to the sector, from the inception of the national early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki. He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: (Ministry of Education, 1996a) up to the present day. From the point of its promulgation in 1996, Te Whāriki set in place
the expectation of a radically different notion of curriculum, in its non-prescriptive philosophical, sociocultural, holistic and ‘bicultural’ nature (Nuttall, 2003). Not the least of these challenges was the delivery of a curriculum inclusive of the Māori culture, values and language by a predominately non-Māori teacher workforce. This is followed by discussion of ways in which the promulgation of Te Whāriki formed part of a groundswell of change and led to an enhancement of pedagogies in support of its ‘bicultural’ expectations. The paper concludes with examples from recent research of modes of pedagogical practice that reflect such programme delivery.