ABSTRACT
The Aotearoa/New Zealand early childhood (EC) curriculum, Te Whāriki, first introduced in 1996 has been heralded as a huge success and received international acclaim. The structural features of the curriculum are represented as a whāriki or weaving metaphor, enabling the creation of a holistic, child-centred, inclusive curriculum that recognised New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. In April 2017, a revised version of Te Whāriki was released. While the structural features of the principles, strands and goals remain the same, guidance to teachers reflects changes in society, research and practice in the last 20 years. Volume 1 of this series presented changes across the successive curriculum versions. To conclude, we argue that it is time to move to ‘actionable behaviours’ to enact the philosophical and aspirational foundations of Te Whāriki. Across the curriculum, including the areas we have highlighted in this chapter, EC teachers in Aoteaora/New Zealand appear to struggle relating theory to practice. Moving to ensure children’s learning is more visible and that teachers engage in intentional teaching practices in which the goals they have for children’s learning and the strategies they use to meet those goals are made explicit may help address this issue.
