This has been a most enlightening exchange with Sarah from
New Zealand. Early Childhood is a part of the state sector, so teachers must
hold a BA in ECE, and are paid the same as primary grade teachers, along with
the same benefits. They use the Te Whariki curriculum for ages 0-5. This is
where it gets good!
Te Whariki means “the woven mat”, this is an early learning
story which forms the beginning of the child’s learning journey.
The learning story is the type of assessment they use, the
four broad principles; Empowerment,
Holistic development (Their intellectual, social, cultural, physical,
emotional and spiritual learning is interwoven across all their experiences.) Family and community, Relationships.
Te Whariki's four principles are interwoven with these learning areas:
Wellbeing
Contribution
Belonging
Communication
Exploration
Sarah said she would try to get a Learning Story with a parent’s permission. This curriculum comes from the Ministry of Education. The three main goals they have are Accessibility, Affordability and Quality. There is not talk of standardized testing, academic readiness, it is all interwoven as described above. This looks and sounds like a model philosophy I hope someday we can achieve in this country.
Te Whariki's four principles are interwoven with these learning areas:
Wellbeing
Contribution
Belonging
Communication
Exploration
Sarah said she would try to get a Learning Story with a parent’s permission. This curriculum comes from the Ministry of Education. The three main goals they have are Accessibility, Affordability and Quality. There is not talk of standardized testing, academic readiness, it is all interwoven as described above. This looks and sounds like a model philosophy I hope someday we can achieve in this country.
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are learning about Te Whariki. As I mentioned in our very first class, I have been very fortunate to have studied in New Zealand and I maintain a relationship with educators there. We use learning stories in my program and I have found them quite useful in supporting children and families. It takes some time for teachers to get proficient at creating them, but once they learn, it's been great.
If you are ever interested in traveling to NZ to study let me know. The 2013 tour begins on the 22nd of this month, but there is a study tour scheduled for 2014.
Hello Tina,
ReplyDeleteHow are you doing? I just wanted to say hi to you and tell you that I was absolutely interested to read your post since I read the initial sentences. I'm so glad that you've esstablished a professional contact in NZ and that you are going to be lucky enough to get a bonus for a sneak peek ;) I will definetely be attentive for your next post to see what it all it's about.
Elisa Vasquez
Tina,
ReplyDeleteWhile I am learning a lot through the podcasts and researching additional websites, I love hearing about the international contact you made from New Zealand. While the curriculum sounds fantastic and really addresses the child holistically, I'd like to comment about the fact that those teachers get paid the same amount that primary grade teachers get, along with benefits. I think this is where we are lacking in the United States. There are few early childhood programs that pay the same amount as public school teachers, not even mentioning benefits. I wish this were the case for the United States, as I believe that we could see a rise in teacher effectiveness, low turn-over rates, and an increase in child's learning and development. I would if this is being seen in New Zealand. Thanks so much for sharing!
Erin
It is good to know that teachers there are paid the same as school system teachers. I have found that around my area, the early childhood profession is wanting teachers to have all of these degrees, but are not willing to pay accordingly and there is a lot of turnover in this field. I also love the fact that they are not focused on standardized testing. I think that is where this country runs into a lot of problems.
ReplyDelete