1. ECCE teacher competencies for Quality Education in the Digital Age: A perspective from Aotearoa New Zealand
Professor Carmen Dalli
Institute for Early Childhood Studies
International Seminar on Early Childhood Care and Education and Parenting:
Children’s Well-being and Effective Parenting in the Digital Age
November 2017
Thank you for the introduction and thank you _______ for the invitation to participate in this seminar…..
….and to share a perspective from NZ on this important topic.
Aotearoa New Zealand is a small country at the bottom of the southern hemisphere. It has a population of 4.6 million of which just under 15% identify as indigenous Māori.
Aotearoa is the Māori name for the country; using the two names is a political statement that acknowledges the original people of the country - the tangata whenua - Māori.
Additional info if needed:
74% as European; 11.8 as Asian; 7.4% as Pacific; 1.2% Middle-Eastern/ Latin American/ African (MELAA) and Other mixed (excluding European-Māori)

2. The New Zealand ECCE context
A diverse range of services classified for administrative and funding purposes as either “teacher-led” or “parent/whānau-led”.
High participation rates in ECCE: 96.2% of all new school entrants (2016 figures)
Biggest enrolment growth is for 0-2yr olds with 42% participation (OECD average for this age-group is 34%)
ECCE services for 0-6 year olds.
School is compulsory from 6 years but most start at 5 years
Population: 4.6m
The NZ early childhood sector is very diverse – with over 20 different types of ec services that vary by philosophical orientation, whether they are centre- or home-based; hours of opening; etc. For administrative and funding purposes; centres are classified as either teacher-led or parent-led.
We have high participation rates: 96.2% of children who started school in 2016 had attended some form of EC service.
Participation rates continue to grow with the biggest enrolment growth for 0-2yr olds. Our participation rate for this age group is 42%; for OECD countries the average rate for this age group is 34%. (OECD, 2016).
ECCE services accept children from Birth to 6 years old when School becomes compulsory. However, most children start school on the day they turn 5.
Distinctive features
NZ has had an integrated care and education system since 1986 when policy and administrative responsibility for childcare services was transferred from the Department of Social Welfare to the Department of Education.
This integrated policy structure meant that we were among the first countries to develop an integrated professional ECCE workforce to work across what other countries still refer to as “childcare” and “preschool”.
We now have arguably one of the most highly qualified ECCE workforces anywhere (Cameron, Dalli & Simon, 2018): within the teacher-led part of the sector, 74.6% of the workforce is qualified with a 3yr diploma or degree, and ECCE teachers in many services have pay parity with primary school teachers (only some services as salaries vary by wage awards).
The integrated care and education policy structure has also helped shape the ECCE curriculum- Te Whāriki – and the way it has evolved since it was launched in 1996 as a curriculum for all the diverse types of services. Te Whāriki is a Maori word that means a woven mat ; the use of this metaphor conveys the idea that each early childhood service can use weave its own curriculum, its own mat , taking the principles and strands of Te Whariki and using them to develop a curriculum that responds to the particular needs of the community the centre is in.

3. Quality in New Zealand ECCE
Distinctive features:
Policy responsibility for childcare services transferred to Education portfolio in 1986
Integrated training introduced for childcare staff and kindergarten teachers in 1988
A strong policy and professional infrastructure
Monitoring of quality of ECCE services by the Education Review Office
A bicultural curriculum, Te Whāriki (1996; updated 2017)
74.6% of ECCE workforce in teacher-led service is qualified with a 3-yr diploma or degree

4. Emerging Quality Discourses in NZ ECCE
Importance of Leadership
Quality as excellence and equity
Each service will offer a curriculum that recognises the rights and enables the active participation of all children, including those that may need additional learning support. (Te Whāriki, 2017, p. 12)
An Inclusive curriculum. Te Whāriki –a curriculum for all children. Inclusion encompasses gender, ethnicity, diversity of ability and learning needs, family structure and values, socio-economic status and religion.(Te Whāriki, 2017, p. 13)

5. Backhouse, M. (2017, January 29). Technology: What's it really doing to our kids? New Zealand Herald.
Wade, A. (2012, August 25). iPads bridge kindy generation gap. The New Zealand Herald.
Debates continue

6. Plan
The NZ ECCE curriculum and other guidance documents framing teacher competencies
Research on NZ EECE teacher behaviour related to digital technologies
A framework for growing teacher competencies during initial teacher education
Waterford early learning Utah

7. The ECCE curriculum, Te Whāriki: the key to pedagogical quality
A woven mat;
Each service’s curriculum;
Symbolic of the child
Four principles
Whakamana – Empowerment
Kotahitanga – Holistic development
Whānau tangata – Family and community
Ngā hononga – Relationships
Five strands
Well-being – Mana Atua
Belonging – Mana Whenua
Contribution – Mana Tangata
Communication – Mana Reo
Exploration – Mana Aotūroa
So, the title of the ECCE curriculum,Te whāriki is used as metaphor. It says that the curriculum document itself is also a mat which all the different ECCE services can stand on.
A mat is woven from
Te Whariki was launched in Two key aspects immediately attacted attention: its holistic view of the curriculum, and its bicultural aspiration.
It is holistic because it “interprets the notion of curriculum broadly, taking it to include all the experiences, activities and events, both direct and indirect, that occur within the ECE setting.” ( p. 7).
It was also the first bicultural and bilingual curriculum (in any sector) in NZ. This reflects its development as a partnership between two European-origin (Pakeha) academics – Helen May and Margaret Carr and 2 Māori writers representing the Kohanga Reo Trust (Tilly and Tamati Reedy). The TKR Trust is an indigenous Māori organisation that since the early 1980s has managed and supported family / whanau-based Maori-language immersion centres for young children and their families. Te Kohanga Reo means ‘the Language Nest’, and its goal is to revitalise the Maori language and to empower a strong sense of Maori identity and of well-being, so that Maori can be equally competent with Pakeha (Skerrett, 2018).
The Maori writers gifted the notion of the woven Whāriki to the curriculum and the notion of EMPOWERMENT – MANA – as the foundation principle and as a key component of each of the strands- For example: the empowerment to be well/ have a sense of belonging; and so on.
The foundational principle Empowerment is evident also in the prominently stated aspiration that the EC curriculum should empower children to learn and grow as:
“competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society” (Te Whāriki, 1996, p.9; 2017, p. 5).
The other principles are: (see slide)
This then is

8. The ECCE curriculum should empower children to learn and grow as:
Slide from Sue and Tara

9. The ECCE curriculum, Te Whāriki: the key to pedagogical quality
A woven mat;
Each service’s curriculum;
Symbolic of the child
Four principles
Whakamana – Empowerment
Kotahitanga – Holistic development
Whānau tangata – Family and community
Ngā hononga – Relationships
Five strands
Well-being – Mana Atua
Belonging – Mana Whenua
Contribution – Mana Tangata
Communication – Mana Reo
Exploration – Mana Aotūroa
So, the title of the ECCE curriculum,Te whāriki is used as metaphor. It says that the curriculum document itself is also a mat which all the different ECCE services can stand on.
A mat is woven from
Te Whariki was launched in Two key aspects immediately attacted attention: its holistic view of the curriculum, and its bicultural aspiration.
It is holistic because it “interprets the notion of curriculum broadly, taking it to include all the experiences, activities and events, both direct and indirect, that occur within the ECE setting.” ( p. 7).
It was also the first bicultural and bilingual curriculum (in any sector) in NZ. This reflects its development as a partnership between two European-origin (Pakeha) academics – Helen May and Margaret Carr and 2 Māori writers representing the Kohanga Reo Trust (Tilly and Tamati Reedy). The TKR Trust is an indigenous Māori organisation that since the early 1980s has managed and supported family / whanau-based Maori-language immersion centres for young children and their families. Te Kohanga Reo means ‘the Language Nest’, and its goal is to revitalise the Maori language and to empower a strong sense of Maori identity and of well-being, so that Maori can be equally competent with Pakeha (Skerrett, 2018).
The Maori writers gifted the notion of the woven Whāriki to the curriculum and the notion of EMPOWERMENT – MANA – as the foundation principle and as a key component of each of the strands- For example: the empowerment to be well/ have a sense of belonging; and so on.
The foundational principle Empowerment is evident also in the prominently stated aspiration that the EC curriculum should empower children to learn and grow as:
“competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society” (Te Whāriki, 1996, p.9; 2017, p. 5).
The other principles are: (see slide)
This then is

10. Learning outcomes

11. Key messages about desired shifts in practice
The four Curriculum principles must be the touchstones of teachers’ work;
Teachers being intentional in their practice;
Focusing on the learning that matters here, in this community;
Affirming children’s identity, language and culture;
Creating personalised pathways from ECCE to school

12. Digital technologies and the ECCE curriculum
A curriculum must speak to our past, present and future. As global citizens in a rapidly changing and increasingly connected world, children need to be adaptive, creative and resilient. They need to ‘learn how to learn’ so that they can engage with new contexts, opportunities and challenges with optimism and resourcefulness. For these reasons, Te Whāriki emphasises the development of knowledge, skills, attitudes and dispositions that support lifelong learning. (Te Whāriki, 2017, p. 7)

14. Guidance documents on ECCE teacher competencies
Te Whāriki (2017)
Licensing criteria which prescribes how the curriculum should be implemented
Kei tau o te Pae: Assessment for Learning: Early Childhood Exemplars
Education Council sets and monitors:
Graduating Teacher Standards
Standards for the Teaching Profession (in Our Code, Our Standards, 2017)
Requirements of teacher education degrees (updated Feb 2017)
He Pou Tataki (ERO, 2013)

15. Research on NZ ECCE teachers’ use and views on digital technology

16. Key messages

17. Professional Work of a teacher in the digital age
Starkey, L. (in preparation). Teacher competences for the digital age: A draft framework.
Competences
Skills related to:
Professional Work of a teacher in the digital age
student management systems
data management tools
communication tools- with peers (e.g., Google Education Groups), parents (Skype; Zoom etc.)
professional learning networks
accessing and applying research
Managing the digital learning environment
managing the digital learning environment
accessing, developing and sharing digital resources (e.g., on certain topics of interest to children)
effectively use learner management systems and tools for learning
managing how children behave in those spaces (Safety issues)
Teaching knowledge and skills for a digital age
digital literacy – how to live in a digital age (participation; citizenship etc.)
Discipline knowledge and skills; using tools and learning skills within a given discipline
How to learn in a digital age – e.g., apps for children
creativity – how to create digital objects, outcomes
how to critique software

18. Good Practice Principles
The learner is the focus, therefore:
Have a clear purpose; ask:
What do we want to achieve here; what technologies would suit best?
Talk about the purpose to be achieved, not the tool
Encourage active use of technologies by children
Making sure all technologies are accessible
Choose technologies that:
encourage exploration, creativity, empowerment as a learner
rise above aggressive marketing
Make time and space to experiment and be playful
Be a good digital citizen: develop safety policies

19. References
Cameron, C., Dalli, C., & Simon, A. (2018). The Development of a United ECEC Workforce in New Zealand and England: A Long, Slow and Fitful Journey. In L. Miller, C. Cameron, C. Dalli & N. Barbour (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Early Childhood Policy. London: Sage. Goodman, N. & Cherrington, S. (2015). Parent, whanau, and teacher engagement through online portfolios in early childhood education. Early Childhod Folio, 19 (1), Epstein, A.S. (2014). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children’s learning (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: NAEYC. OECD. (2016). PF3.2: Enrolment in childcare and pre-school. OECD Family Database, Social Policy Division, Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Updated 09/10/16. Retrieved on 10/06/2017

20. Acknowledgements
My thanks to my colleagues at the Institute for Early Childhood Studies, Dr Sue Cherrington and Dr Mary Jane Shuker, and to the following postgraduate students who supplied relevant material/ data / images:
Nicola Goodman
Amanda Higgins
Luke Santamaria