Te whāriki, citizenship and young children: re-considering the ‘pioneering’ pedagogies of early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

In response to growing attention to young children’s citizenship, and recent calls for critique of Western discourses and practices, we explore the movement of Western ‘pioneering’ pedagogies of early childhood education (ECE) and their localisation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Employing a poststructural positioning, and theoretical devices drawn from the work of Michel Foucault and Kuan-Hsing Chen, this article ‘bewilders’ discourses of children’s citizenship in Aotearoa by analysing the juxtaposition of pioneering pedagogies alongside complexities of power effects in early childhood settings. This article draws on data from the first author’s doctoral study and employs reflexive thematic analysis to interrogate data gathered in interviews with kindergarten teachers in Aotearoa. Based on these analyses, this paper bewilders pioneering pedagogies in Aotearoa by advocating that young children’s citizenship be recognised as a cultural-historical construct which acknowledges the syncretism of Western and Māori knowledges in ECE, and argues that children occupy a negotiated position as citizens in ECE settings in Aotearoa.

KEYWORDS:

• Te Whāriki
• young children
• citizenship
• poststructualism
• pioneering pedagogies

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all the children, teachers, and whānau of the participating kindergartens and He Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten Association. Special thanks go to Dr Andrea Milligan for advising the first author in his doctoral study, and thanks to the reviewers and editors for their help and constructive suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We capitalise the word ‘Indigenous’ to show respect to all the Indigenous people.

2. We use the Māori name ‘Aotearoa’ for New Zealand throughout the paper to show respect to the Māori people. Although ‘Aotearoa’ is one of the most widely used names both domestically (see https://www.govt.nz/) and internationally (see for example https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/31/united-states-aotearoa-new-zealand-joint-statement/), we acknowledge the fact that other names are used by different iwi (tribes) in New Zealand, such as Te Wai Pounamu by South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu, and Nu Tirani, the name used in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

3. There are four Articles in te Tiriti, the Māori version of the treaty, which is the one signed by over 500 Māori chiefs: (1) Article One outlines Māori allowance of to kāwanatanga (governance) by the British Crown, thereby becoming a party to this treaty; (2) Article Two guaranteed Māori te tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) over their lands, villages and taonga katoa which refers to all things highly valued by Māori; (3) Article Three promises Māori ōritetanga (equal status) and equal citizenship rights alongside the British; (4) The Fourth Article, an oral clause in this treaty, gave Māori spiritual beliefs equal prominence to the European religions (see Orange 2021 for further information).

4. Statistics have shown that over a quarter of people were born overseas, and ethnic diversity will continue to increase in Aotearoa, see https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/2018-census-data-allows-users-to-dive-deep-into-new-zealands-diversity.

5. Kuan-Hsing Chen (born 1957) is a Taiwanese scholar. A major publication of his is Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization (Chen 2010), in which he introduces his approach to cultural studies.

6. Playcentre is a unique type of ECE service in Aotearoa which features parents’ cooperation, concern with children’s mental health, and the philosophy of children’s free play.

7. See the first author’s doctoral thesis (P. Xu 2022) for the full schedule of data collection, information of all participants, interview questions, and ethical issues.

8. Pseudonyms have replaced the names of the participating teachers and kindergartens. The quotes from the interviews are referenced to the teachers’ pseudonyms.