My Past Is My Present Is My Future: A Bicultural Approach to Early Years Education in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a specific pedagogical event situated in a local context, while concomitantly set within the milieu of national social and political debates in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We use material pertaining to the development of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Wha¯riki together with current literature regarding the subsequent implementation of the curriculum as the framework for our discussion and address how the New Zealand early childhood curriculum contributes to a democratic vision for early childhood education in Aotearoa, New Zealand. First, we provide a historical overview of the reconceptualization of early years education in New Zealand and include the manner in which indigenous perspectives contributed to the shape of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Wha¯riki. Second, we look at how teachers both interpret and enact the principles, strands, and goals of Te Wha¯riki and work with the Ma¯ori assessment framework Te Whatu Po¯keka through the conduit of the arts from an indigenous and bicultural perspective. Incorporated in this discussion is one teacher’s narrative from a Ma¯ori-medium early childhood center concerning the ways different approaches to pedagogy and assessment can contribute to a rethinking of teaching and learning in children’s early years. Ultimately, we endeavor to demonstrate how a curriculum, which is seen as bicultural, holistic, and empowering, can act as a democratic and transformative agent for both children and teachers in early childhood settings for the purposes of promoting equity and social justice.