Kei Tua o te Pae

19 June

Here are Alice and I taking a browse through her portfolio. “I know the words,” Alice keeps saying to me. We look at each page. “In the family corner I like to play with my friends, Finn and Taylor,” says Alice running her finger along the line of words.

The next page is an old story of when Alice was beginning to write her name. “I do it now and I already have my birthday and I know how to do it.”

The next page is when Alice had been playing “Doggy, doggy, who’s got the bone?” On see…

Paul found a rakiraki (duckling) on the road as he was walking to school. Whaea Margaret asked Paul if she could bring the rakiraki to the centre to show the tamariki. He agreed, and Whaea Margaret brought the rakiraki to the centre.

She introduced the rakiraki to the tamariki at morning mat time and told them that he had lost his mother. The tamariki were fascinated with the rakiraki and gathered around the new addition to the fold. The staff suggested we give him an ingoa (name), and the tama…

"Exemplars are examples of assessments that make visible learning that is valued so that the learning community (children, families, whānau, teachers, and beyond) can foster ongoing and diverse learning pathways. [emphasis added]."

Early Childhood Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project Advisory Committee and Co-ordinators, 2002

Book 5 emphasises the importance of inviting all members of a child’s learning community to participate in assessment. For children supported by an early in…

1 Iram Siraj-Blatchford and John Siraj-Blatchford (2003).
More than Computers - Information and Communication Technology in the Early Years. London: The British Association for Early Childhood Education, p. 4.

2 Ministry of Education (2005). Supporting Learning in Early Childhood Education through Information and Communication Technologies: A Framework for Development. Wellington: Ministry of Education, p. 16. The passage quoted is from Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Māta…

The exemplars are followed by annotations that provide focused comment on each exemplar. These annotations follow a standard question-and-answer format.

What’s happening here?
The answer gives a brief description of what’s happening in each exemplar.

What aspects of [the area specified] does this assessment exemplify?
The answer refers back to the explanations in the exemplar book’s front pages. It explains why this assessment was chosen. (The exemplar may also illustrate other aspects of asse…

This resource is titled Kei Tua o te Pae, a line from an oriori (lullaby) by Hirini Melbourne. There are a number of images in this oriori that can be applied to development, learning, and assessment for learning.

Teachers and other adults who work with children are invited to explore the following three aspects of competence:

personal goals, interests, and working theories;
learning strategies and dispositions;
social roles and culturally valued literacies.

Each of these three aspects involves knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The aspects overlap, and the purposes of them will often be in opposition to each other. For example, personal goals and the smooth running of a centre may be at odds with each o…

Why should children contribute to their own assessments?
What examples do we have of the children contributing to their own assessment records?
What examples do we have that show the children having a say in the description and discussion of their work or their learning? How else might we encourage this?
What examples do we have in our assessments that show the child, family, or whānau taking part in deciding what learning is important for the child’s well-being?
What evidence do we have of mult…

1 Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa/ Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

2 Tilly Reedy (1995/2003). “Toku Rangatiratanga na te Mana-matauranga: Knowledge and Power Set Me Free …”. In Weaving Te Whāriki: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Early Childhood Curriculum Document in Theory and Practice, ed. J. Nuttall. Wellington: NZCER, p. 68.

3 Rangimarie Turuki Pere (1997). Te Wheke: A Celebration of Infinite Wisdom. Gisborne: Ao Ako…

Ames, Carole (1992). “Classrooms: Goals, Structures, and Student Motivation”. Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 84 no. 3, pp. 261–271.
Bishop, R., Berryman, M., and Richardson, C. (2001). Te Toi Huarewa. Final report to the Ministry of Education. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Bishop, R. Berryman, M. Tiakiwai, S. and Richardson, C. (2003). Te Kotahitanga: The Experiences of Year 9 and 10 Māori Students in Mainstream Classrooms. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Black, Paul and Wiliam,…

Introduction - He kupu whakataki
When a child moves from a family to a classroom, when an immigrant moves from one culture to another, or when an employee moves from the ranks to a management position, learning involves more than appropriating new pieces of information. Learners must often deal with conflicting forms of individuality and competence as defined in different communities … I am suggesting that the maintenance of an identity across boundaries requires work and …[t]his work … is at th…

The following exemplars in other books can also be viewed from a Communication/Mana Reo perspective.

Book 1: Blinking and clicking on the changing mat; Where’s Kirsty?; Tena kupu, ae, tuhia!

Book 2: “Those are the exact words I said, Mum!”; Jet’s mother contributes to the assessment; Zahra and the donkey; Assessments in two languages; Bella and Nina dancing; A shadow came creeping; Toddlers as teachers; Mana reo

Book 3: Pihikete’s learning; Te Aranga responds to a photograph; Hatupatu and the…

Assessment for learning implies that we have some aims or goals for children’s learning. Te Whāriki provides the framework for defining learning and what is to be learned. The goals and indicative learning outcomes are set out in strands.

Hamish has been very interested in joining in with Luka, Ethan, Izaak and Ronan. Over the last 2 days he has tried to become a part of their group. By watching their play he found a way he could contribute to what they were doing. He got a large tarpaulin out of the shed and said he was a “wave”. This seemed to fit in well with their play in the boat and around the playground. Today Hamish did this again and eventually they developed a game where they jumped into the water off the large boxes.…

1. This is Matthew’s first attempt to draw his car, but he was not happy with the wheel.

2. This is Matthew’s second attempt, but again, his wheel was not what he wanted.

3. Matthew is starting his third attempt to draw his car

4. Matthew is now drawing the doors on the car, and it has windows and hubcaps, too.

5. The car is taking shape, and Matthew is very happy!

6. Look, this door opens here!

What’s happening here?
This series of photographs illustrates Matthew’s attempts to draw a car…

Introduction - He kupu whakatakiTe Whāriki affirms the view of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979) that  “Learning and development are facilitated by the participation of the developing person in progressively more complex patterns of reciprocal activity” (page 60) and by gradual “shifts in the balance of power” (page 212) from the teacher to the learner.  These shifts reflect children’s increasing ability and inclination to steer their own course, set their own goals, assess their own achievements, and…

Child: Emily

Teacher: Jane

A learning story
Emily came up to every one of us this morning proudly holding something she had written. I said, “What is it, Emily?” She answered, “It is a song.” I could clearly see the musical notes she had written. A little later Rosie made a suggestion that maybe Emily would like to sing her song at mat-time. I wondered if she would be brave enough to stand in front of everyone and sing a song, especially one that she had just written, without practising it. We…

There are two main reasons for teachers to encourage children and give them opportunities to contribute to assessment.

Firstly, research on assessment and motivation indicates that settings that encourage children to set and assess their own goals are rich sites for learning. Part of the reason is that children who contribute to their own (and others’) assessments are perceived as “competent and confident learners and communicators” (Te Whāriki, page 6).

The research of Carol Dweck (1999), Pau…

Introduction - He kupu whakatakiHow does one maintain standards of accountability – to students, teachers, and parents, to school officials who are responsible for the students’ progress … while at the same time keeping the social contract with students, who are encouraged to view themselves as co-equal participants in a community of sharing? This is a difficult tightrope to walk, and our approach has been to be honest with the children and to allow them to participate in the assessment process…

Te Whāriki situates competence and continuity in place and community:

"Although the patterns of learning and development are sometimes seen as a progressive continuum linked to age, such patterns vary for individual children in ways that are not always predictable."

page 21

What does continuity lead towards? What is beyond the horizon? Te Whāriki states:

"This curriculum is founded on the following aspirations for children: to grow up as competent and confident learners and co…