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There is an underlying sense of collectivism amidst Te Āo Māori, in that people are part of a social community, and tamariki/children are raised within that community – Gonzalez-Mena (2002) suggests that a collectivist culture raises tamariki with a mutual goal of ensuring “vital connections last a lifetime, not just until adulthood” (p 14). Te Āo Māori is indeed acknowledged within Te Whāriki (MOE, 1996) in that there is, first and foremost, provision “specifically for Màori immersion services” (MOE, 1996, p.7). The four founding principles of Te Whāriki (MOE, 1996); ‘Whakamana/Empowerment’, ‘Kotahitanga/Unity and Holistic Development’, ‘Whānau tangata/Family and Community’, and ‘Ngā Hononga/Relationships’, create strong links between early childhood education and the beliefs and values of Te Āo Māori. Such links appear to inspire, and maintain, a socio-cultural approach towards a journey of learning and development in regards to “the interconnecting social and cultural worlds of children” (MOE, 2010). According to Ritchie (2008) “Māori language is even more inaccessible, and largely invisible, to the non-Māori population” (p.203), and in the ‘Communication/Mana Reo’ strand of Te Whāriki (MOE, 1996) it states that “one of the major cultural tasks for children is to develop competence in and
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In regards to nurturing the cultural beliefs and values of tamariki, the word ‘Education’, a derivative of the Latin word ‘Educare’, means “to bring out that which is within. Human values are latent in every human being; one cannot acquire them from outside” (Sai, 2012). In order to live up to such a meaning, we as kaiako need to “recognise the important place of spirituality (and cultural practices) in the development of the whole child” (MOE, 1996, p.47), and know that teaching in a multicultural society “promotes the child's sense of the uniqueness of his own culture as a positive characteristic and enables the child to accept the uniqueness of the cultures of others” (Gomez,
In regards to nurturing the cultural beliefs and values of tamariki, the word ‘Education’, a derivative of the Latin word ‘Educare’, means “to bring out that which is within. Human values are latent in every human being; one cannot acquire them from outside” (Sai, 2012). In order to live up to such a meaning, we as kaiako need to “recognise the important place of spirituality (and cultural practices) in the development of the whole child” (MOE, 1996, p.47), and know that teaching in a multicultural society “promotes the child's sense of the uniqueness of his own culture as a positive characteristic and enables the child to accept the uniqueness of the cultures of others” (Gomez,