Democratic Policies and Practices in Early Childhood Education by Linda Mitchell

Author:Linda Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811317934
Publisher: Springer Singapore

In Totara Kindergarten, opportunities to develop and sustain a democratic tradition were supported by participants engaging with theory and in critique and debate, on their own and within a network.

5 Conclusion

Te Whāriki is a bicultural curriculum for children of all ages from birth to school starting age. It is characterised by an openness to contribution and inclusion of children, families, community and teachers. While democracy is not an explicit value, the curriculum links to democratic principles through reinforcing that what counts as knowledge in a curriculum is perspectival, wider than the “knowledge” favoured by a dominant group in society and must be inclusive of the language, culture and traditions of Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. Curriculum developers, Tilly and Tamati Reedy, described it as “multi-tribal and multi-cultural in its execution” (Reedy & Reedy, 2013, p. 2). An emphasis in Te Whāriki is on empowerment for all participants. In these ways, Te Whāriki affords opportunities for democratising education and for ECEC settings themselves to operate as democratic communities as Dewey has envisaged.

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