Critical pedagogies of place: Some considerations for early childhood care and education in a superdiverse ‘bicultural’ Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Racism is pervasive in education in Aotearoa New Zealand, including in early childhood education. The preparedness of early childhood teachers to respond to the Ministry of Education's current anti-racism policy direction is a pressing concern. This is particularly the case, given the early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa offers little guidance to support early childhood teachers to develop anti-racism pedagogies. This primarily theoretical article seeks to contribute to dialogue with early childhood teachers about both racism and anti-racism pedagogies. The theoretical arguments advanced in the article focus on document analysis of Te Whāriki. Analysis includes consideration of the themes of inclusion, equity and social justice. It also includes consideration of what these themes might imply about expectations for early childhood teachers’ uptake of anti-racism approaches in their practice. Document analysis is supplemented by limited preliminary survey data drawn from the initial findings of the Anti-racism Commitment in Early Childhood Education: Pathways to Inclusion, Equity and Social Justice (ARC-ECE) study. Drawing from race-critical scholarship to further advance the theoretical arguments, the article highlights tensions in early childhood teachers’ understandings about racism. The limits of narrow definitions of racism that explain it as the result of ‘cultural difference’ are explored. In making a case for thinking beyond cultural competence and culturally responsive practice, the article calls for an immediate rethinking of racism in (and beyond) the sector.

Section: The Policy Context For Teacher Practice: a Textual Analysis ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-racism commitment in early childhood education: The limits of cultural competency

Azarmandi,

Delaune,

Surtees

et al. 2023

“…Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the 1840 treaty that legitimised British settlement and led to the colonisation of Aotearoa via the assumption of British sovereignty, whereby majoritarian and white supremacist policies disregarded the rights that had been promised to Māori within the Māori-language version of this treaty, which was signed by over 500 Māori chiefs and Captain William Hobson on behalf of the British Crown (Orange, 1987; Ritchie, 1992; Walker, 2004). 4 In Article One, Māori allowed kāwanatanga (‘governance’) by the British Crown (and then, from 1852, the settler government).…”

Section: Complex Relationships: Te Tiriti O Waitangi and Superdiversi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring a Tiriti-based superdiversity paradigm within early childhood care and education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Chan

Ritchie

2020

This article reports findings from a study that used a process of document analysis to examine early childhood care and education responses to increasing superdiversity in the ‘bicultural’ legislative context of Aotearoa New Zealand. The New Zealand Education Review Office has described both Indigenous Māori children and ‘children of migrants and refugees’ as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘priority learners’. This article uses the lenses of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Indigenous rights) and Steven Vertovec’s superdiversity approach to examine the implications of representations of the Indigenous Māori and the settler population in early childhood care and education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It further applies Sara Ahmed’s diversity work on a phenomenology of whiteness to scrutinise the New Zealand government’s commitments to supporting its nation’s ‘priority learners’.

“…Tangata Tiriti contribute to Aotearoa's 'superdiverse' statusa term associated not only with ethnic and linguistic diversity, but also with additional complexities and interlinkages of migrationrelated diversity (such as the differing status and migration patterns of migrants) and new inequalities and patterns of prejudice in each country (Vertovec, 2007). Contemporary Aotearoa is shaped by waves of immigration, recently particularly from Asian countries (Chan and Ritchie, 2019). As a result, the ECEC teaching population is also becoming more diverse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equity, inclusion and belonging for teachers in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Gould

Boyd

Tesař

2023

This article troubles themes of equity, inclusion and belonging for early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. The authors argue that relationships between teachers matter and, in pursuit of transformative teaching praxis, can be considered as a site for restorative justice, leading to increased solidarity and collective action. While much debate has focused on the counter-colonial, bicultural and transformative potential of the early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, research has also focused on the complexities of requiring a largely monocultural (Pākeha /of European descent) and underprepared workforce to meet its complex aspirations in the context of a neo-liberal policy landscape. An under-recognised aspect of this challenge is how the same contexts give rise to inequitable and divisive relationships between teachers, diminishing opportunities for transformative justice for children and families. This article brings these two matters into dialogue: first, it is a critical examination of teachers’ narratives about their work and the complex and overlapping discourses that influence them and, second, it considers the transformative potential of inter-teacher groups as sites for restorative justice between teachers, leading to critical engagement with issues of inequity and collective advocacy.