Improving educational outcomes for Māori learners is a key priority for the education sector. The focus of current education strategies is to improve the way the education system assists Māori learners realise their potential. Early childhood services have a key role in building strong learning foundations to enable young children to develop as competent and confident learners.
The majority of Māori children (76 percent) 1participating in early childhood education do so in mainstream early childhood services. ERO evaluated the provision of education and care for Māori children in 576 early childhood services, as part of their regular education reviews during Term 4, 2008 and Terms 1 and 2, 2009. The evaluation focused on the extent to which services:
This evaluation follows an earlier study by ERO, Māori Children in Early Childhood: Pilot Study, July 2008. It confirms some findings of the pilot study, in particular that many services:
One of the biggest challenges for early childhood managers and educators is to understand, review and develop processes that enable them to listen, respect and respond to what parents and whānau of Māori children expect of the service. To make such a commitment, early childhood services have to find out about parents’ aspirations and expectations, and acknowledge and respond to these in authentic ways.
ERO found that although most early childhood services had processes for consulting and communicating with the families of children enrolled, less than half (41 percent) were using such processes to identify and respond to the aspirations and expectations of parents and whānau of Māori children. For many the first step is to look at their current processes for consulting and communicating with the parents and whānau of Māori children and to review how well these processes are working.
Just over a third of services were focused on assisting Māori children to become competent and confident learners. However, in nearly two thirds of services, ERO made particular recommendations for improving provision for Māori children. Although many services implemented what they considered to be a bicultural curriculum, the quality and relevance of this was variable. Managers and educators did not yet fully recognise the importance of acknowledging Māori children’s cultural identity and heritage.
This evaluation also raises questions about the links between implementing a bicultural curriculum and reviewing its impact for Māori children. This is the next step for services that already have strong bicultural curriculum. Reflecting on and questioning the extent to which Māori children experience success as learners is part of the challenge for managers and educators in early childhood services. The findings of this evaluation indicate that many services have some way to go in working with parents and whānau and enabling Māori children to become competent and confident learners.
A companion report to this evaluation, Success for Māori Children in Early Childhood Services: Good practice, March 2010 includes more detailed information about what some services were doing to work in partnership with whānau of Māori children, and to focus on Māori children as successful learners.