Early Childhood Education

Course Components

Curriculum and Planning

This module explores the New Zealand early childhood curriculum.  The students are to be able to describe: the purpose, structure and content of Te Whāriki. They are to examine the principles, strands, and goals for the New Zealand early childhood curriculum. They are to identify the purpose of setting goals and learning outcomes for infants, toddlers and young children.

Having accomplished a firm grasp of the curriculum in terms of its structure, the students will then be encouraged to study how Te Whāriki guides pedagogical practice in diverse early childhood settings in New Zealand. They are to explore how Te Whāriki is used as a curriculum framework and how it promotes holistic development.

They are also to discuss how Te Whāriki assists learning through reciprocal and responsive relationships. The adult’s role and provision of quality learning opportunities for young children are analysed.  In this analysis, the students need to identify and explain the co-relationship between the adult’s role in management, organisation, and practice and the provision of quality learning opportunities for young children.  The role of assessment, planning and evaluation in relation to the implementation of Te Whāriki in a specific early childhood service, will also be incorporated into the discussion.