Te Whatu Pōkeka (English)

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Hemara, W. (2000). Māori Pedagogies: A Review from the Literature. Wellington: NZCER.
King, M., ed. (1975). Te Ao Hurihuri. Wellington: Hicks Smith.
Macfarlane, A. H. (2004). “The Value of Māori Ecologies in the Study of Human Development”. In Human Development in Aotearoa – A Journey through Life (2nd ed.), ed. W. Drewery and L. Bird, pp. 38–42. Auckland: McGraw-Hill.
Metge, J. (1984). Learning and Teaching:…

Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka derives its name from discussions held with the university’s Māori Department in 1989. In previous years there had been a Māori student group called Ngā Kuaka Marangaranga. They called themselves this because of the way students, like the kuaka or godwit, come to feed, in this case on knowledge, and then leave on their journey. The name was appropriate for the kōhanga reo because like their namesakes, the tamariki come to kōhanga, feed and grow on the knowledge within,…

The philosophy of this document is based on a well-known tauparapara. A tauparapara is the first utterance by an opening speaker. It is a tribal poetic chant containing traditional or philosophical statements that usually contain genealogical references (Rewi, 2004), or links to whakapapa.

This tauparapara is acknowledged across various iwi and, as with many accounts, it differs in many ways according to local tribal history. While variations are not unusual, different versions have general the…

This resource aims to stimulate debate and to encourage people to share their experiences and views on the ideas, suggestions, and practices within it. It is hoped that kaupapa Māori early childhood services will then be able to validate, share, and build on the values, philosophies, and practices related to assessment based on kaupapa Māori.

This book explores cultural contexts and methods that contribute significantly to nurturing all aspects of children’s growth and development. Rameka (2007…

Ngā Kākano o te Kaihanga is a Christian, kaupapa Māori centre located in Titirangi, West Auckland. There are 18 children and 5 full-time and part-time staff.

Discussions began in 2003 with a small number of kaupapa Māori, whānau-based centres across the country. Interest was high. However, during the project, a number of centres withdrew and were replaced with others. Work was completed in 2006 with five centres:

Best of Both Worlds, South Auckland;
Ngā Kākano o Te Kaihanga, West Auckland;
Pākōwhai Te Kōhanga Reo, Gisborne;
Te Kōhanga Reo o Mana Tamariki, Palmerston North;
Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka, Hamilton.
The diversity and richness that each ce…

In early 2002 we participated in the National Early Childhood Learning and Assessment project (NECLA). In 2003 we were approached to work on the Kaupapa Māori Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project (KMLAE). We felt that the KMLAE project seemed to really fit our philosophy. It challenged us to see things through a Māori lens. This supported us to see children in a different light and challenged us to ask, “What are we on about? What is our philosophy? Why are we doing it? Have we achieved our…

The journey for te whānau o Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka has been a practical one that continues to move and shape itself. Our journey has taken an uncharted path with no organised order or prescribed map. Rather, a layering of collective wisdom and interactions have worked as a process through which we have explored tā mātou reo me ōna tikanga through kaupapa Māori assessment. Te whānau o Te Kōhanga o Ngā Kuaka is pan-tribal and sits under the umbrella of Tainui. Th e ethos of our whānau is drive…

Mana Tamariki was established in late 1989 to help satisfy the growing demand within our community for kōhanga reo. In 1990 we became the sixth kōhanga reo in Palmerston North. Although Palmerston North is an educational centre, it is not unfortunately a Māori cultural hub and there are very few native Māori speakers living in the area. Ironically, it is the scarcity of Māori culture and language in the district that has provided the environment that has allowed Mana Tamariki to develop and flou…

This interpretation of the tauparapara was developed specifically for Te Whatu Pōkeka. While it identifies the notion of growth, development, and learning, it includes themes that are common across Māori creation stories: the conception and birth of a child, and the learning child. The tauparapara refers to the creation story as the starting point to highlight the links and connections between the three contexts outlined below. For the purposes of this project, the following contexts emphasise w…

The first part of this document establishes the kaupapa or philosophy of Te Whatu Pōkeka through a well-known tauparapara. The tauparapara describes phases of consciousness and is considered to be an expression of whakapapa that links specifically to the wholeness and connectedness of the Māori child. The ideas and processes that emerge from the tauparapara are articulated to make clear associations to concepts about growing and learning.

The key ideas drawn from the tauparapara suggest a view…

BackgroundBest of Both Worlds is located in Papakura, South Auckland. It was established in 1995. Due to lengthy waiting lists, a second centre opened in 2004. The centres serve a community that is low socio-economically and has a high population of Māori and Pacific Islands families. There are 34 children in one centre and 33 in the other and 16 teachers altogether. Most of the children attending the centre are Māori although a diverse range of cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities is repres…

Whānau/whanaungatanga – The whānau is the key to our framework development.

Whānau/child assessment – The child is part of the whānau and the whānau is part of the child. One cannot be separated from the other. The child learns within the context of whānau, which is a real-life context. It is not a socially contrived environment such as the early childhood service. Learning occurs first in the whānau and it is the whānau that determines the learning that is valued. It does this sometimes in ass…

During our journey we realised that a key part of the process included a focus on reflection, identifying needs that were evident and not so evident. Through this we learnt that we were in fact practitioners of assessment. With this insight, we as a whānau became involved with the Kei Tua o te Pae: Assessment for Learning Early Childhood Exemplars Project, and then we developed an in-depth involvement with the Kaupapa Māori Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project. We draw on our strengths and l…

Examples of such contexts are learning situations that are generated by the children and their whānau and by adults who work with the children.

These contexts are based on the responsiveness and intimacy that underpin whānau relationships or whanaungatanga. In an early childhood context, the strength of these relationships determines children’s learning and development.

Planning and implementing culturally and socially appropriate programmes for Māori children is another component of tikanga w…

Our journey in the Kaupapa Māori Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project began in 2003 when Te Kōhanga Reo o Mana Tamariki agreed to participate. We had already begun a developmental journey exploring assessment through the learning stories approach. It would be fair to say that we had a rocky start and the project really set us in motion. The major impact was that involvement in the project provided Mana Tamariki with a forum where we could discuss our efforts with everyone else in the project…

We began our journey with the invitation into the unknown, to participate in the Kaupapa Māori Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project. Initially we had no clear vision for a framework for our work. However, by asking ourselves a range of questions, our ideas began to gather momentum and energy, and opened unlimited possibilities. Moving between the unknown to moments of clarity, we found ourselves exploring our own understanding of assessment. We discussed current forms of assessments that sta…

The four Māori principals of Te Whāriki and their related concepts form the basis for the contextual framework for learning and teaching.

Māori principles of Te Whāriki: Ways of doingThe Māori principles of Te Whāriki encapsulate the diverse ways of knowing, ways of being, and ways of doing which inform quality planning and implementation of programmes to enhance children’s learning. The statements in English are interpretations that summarise what each principle endorses.

Whakamana:Ko te whak…