Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most

 Piki ake, kake ake For those who aspire to seek excellence

 

Summary

These evaluation indicators focus on the things that matter most for children to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that support their lifelong learning. We use the indicators to evaluate early childhood services.

These indicators help early childhood services to evaluate and improve what they do. We recommend all early childhood services use these indicators in their internal evaluations.

 

Indicators background papers

As a starting point for the revision of the indicators, we set up an Academic Experts Panel. We asked them to:

  • provide leadership in one or two Pou of the current conceptual framework
  • prepare a written commentary on the current version of ERO’s conceptual framework Ngā Pou Here
  • provide advice and critique on the revised draft evaluation indicators as the work progressed.

 Copies of the papers are available below:

 

We use two types of indicator

  1. Process indicators focus on the conditions that contribute to quality early childhood education. These indicators look at systems, processes and practices. We’ve organised them into five key domains, Ngā Akatoro.
  2. Outcome indicators are the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki,  the early childhood curriculum. We expect leaders and kaiako will work with parents and whānau so that the learning outcomes support their values and aspirations for their children.

 

More detail about how we review centre-based services

These evaluation indicators form part of the framework we use when reviewing early childhood services, Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement.

Read Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement.

Read how we review early childhood services.

 

ECE Indicators forward

Te Ara Poutama – indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most draws together research and evaluation evidence about effective practice in early childhood education contexts that promote valued learning outcomes for children in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The indicators are designed to focus early childhood services and ERO evaluators on the things that matter most in contributing to children developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, dispositions and working theories that support lifelong learning. ERO expects all early childhood services to use the indicators in their internal evaluation and planning for improvement. They will form the basis of our external evaluations of early childhood services.

The development of the indicators began in late 2017 and included engaging with an Academic Experts Panel to critique the existing indicators and provide a commentary that reflected up-to-date research about what matters most in the provision of high quality early childhood education and care. Contributions came from some of New Zealand’s leading academics: Dr Maria Cooper, Dr Ali Glasgow, Dr Alex Gunn, Dr Lesley Rameka and Dr Kate Thornton. We also sought feedback from the ECE sector on the draft indicators, which was considered and responded to in the development process.

Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement outlines our new approach to review and evaluation for accountability and improvement and Te Ara Poutama – indicators of quality is at the core of this framework. The approach champions evaluation, both internal and external, as the engine to drive improvement and the indicators provide a common currency for making judgements about quality for improvement. We looked to the aspirations of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum in developing these indicators. The outcome indicators focus on the valued learning outcomes for all children, which are articulated in Te Whāriki, and are the basis for services’ assessment for learning, planning and evaluation. The process indicators highlight the importance of teachers / kaiako having an up-to-date understanding of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, supported by relevant theories, including those underpinning Te Whāriki. In high-quality services, leaders provide opportunities for kaiako to build their knowledge and understanding of Te Whāriki and what it means for curriculum, teaching and learning.

New Zealand is an increasingly diverse community. Early childhood services need to provide high-quality education and care for all children, in particular Māori children, children of Pacific heritage, those with additional and complex learning needs, and infants and toddlers. The indicators highlight the importance of services designing and implementing a highly responsive curriculum in which consideration is given to ensuring equity and excellence for every learner.

In our publishing and adopting this framework, it is ERO’s expectation that early childhood services will embed the indicators outlined into their ongoing evaluation and planning activity and that these are at the core of the improvement focus for services going forward.

 

He Kupu Whakataki

E whakatōpū ana a Te Ara Poutama – indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters    most i ngā rangahau me ngā whakaaturanga aromātai e pā ana ki ngā whakaritenga whai hua i ngā horopaki mātauranga kōhungahunga e whakatairanga ana i ngā putanga ako whaitake mō ngā tamariki o Aotearoa.

Kua waihangatia ngā rāpupuku hei whakahāngai i te titiro a ngā ratonga mātauranga kōhungahunga, a ngā kaiarotake hoki o Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga ki ngā take e whai pānga matua ana ki te whakawhanaketanga o ngā tamariki i ngā mōhiotanga, ngā pūkenga, ngā waiaro, ngā piropiro, me ngā mahi ariā e hāpai ai i te ako taumano.

E tūmanako ana Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga kia whakamahi ngā ratonga mātauranga kōhungahunga katoa i ngā rāpupuku i roto i ā rātou mahi aromātai o roto, me ā rātou mahi whakamahere mō te whakapai tonutanga. Ka whai wāhi atu ngā rāpupuku hei tūāpapa mō ā mātou aromātai o waho ki ngā whare mātauranga kōhungahunga.

Nō te tōmuringa o te tau 2017 te whakawhanaketanga o ngā rāpupuku i tīmata ai, mā te toro atu hoki ki tētahi poari mātanga ngaio ki te arohaehae i ngā tūtohu kē o taua wā, me te whakatakoto haere i ngā taipitopito kōrero i ahu mai   ai i ngā rangahau o nāianei tonu mō ngā āhuatanga e whai pānga matua ana ki te whakaratonga o te mātauranga kōhungahunga me te atawhai o te kounga kairangi. I whakapuaki whakaaro mai ētahi o ngā tino ngaio o Aotearoa: arā, ko Tākuta Maria Cooper tērā, rātou ko Tākuta Ali Glasgow, ko Tākuta Alex Gunn, ko Tākuta Lesley Rameka, ko Tākuta Kate Thornton. I toro atu hoki mātou ki ngā kōrero urupare a te rāngai mātauranga kōhungahunga mō ngā tūtohu hukihuki, ā, i āta whakaarohia, i āta aro nuitia hoki aua kōrero i roto i ngā mahi whakawhanaketanga.

E whakaraupapa ana Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement i tā mātou aronga hou ki te arotake me te aromātai kia whai kawenga takohanga, kia whakapai ake, ā, ko Te Ara Poutama – indicators of quality kei te pūtake o taua angamahi. E hapahapai ana taua aronga i te aromātai – o roto, o waho hoki – hei kōkiri i ngā whakapaitanga, heoi, ko aua rāpupuku he pou herenga tahi e hāpai ai i te whakapuakitanga mai o ngā whakataunga e pā ana ki te kounga hei whakatairanga ake. I tahuri hoki mātou ki ngā wawata o

Te Whāriki – te marautanga mō te mātauranga kōhungahunga – ki te whakawhanake i ngā rāpupuku nei.

E arotahi ana ngā rāpupuku putanga ki ngā putanga ako e whai pānga nuitia ana mō ngā tamariki katoa, ērā e whakapuakihia ana ki Te Whāriki, ā, e noho ana hei tūāpapa mō ngā mahi aromatawai a te ratonga i roto i te ako, te whakamahere, me te aromātai. E tohu ana ngā rāpupuku tukanga i te whai pānga nui o te noho mārama o te kaiako ki ngā kōrero o te wā e pā ana ki te marautanga, te tikanga ako, me te aromatawai, aua kōrero e

whakatairangatia ana ki ngā ariā e tika ana, tae atu hoki ki ērā e pou here ana i Te Whāriki. I ngā ratonga o te kounga kairangi, ka whakarato ngā kaiārahi i ngā whai wāhitanga mō ngā kaiako ki te whakapakari ake i ō rātou mōhiotanga me ō rātou māramatanga ki Te Whāriki me tōna whai pānga ki te marautanga, te whakaako, me te ako.

E tupu haere ana te kanorau o te hapori o Aotearoa. Me whakarato ngā ratonga mātauranga kōhungahunga i te kounga kairangi o te mātauranga me te atawhai ki ngā tamariki katoa, inarā, ki ngā tamariki Māori, ki ngā uri o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ki ngā tamariki hei āta hāpai ake, tae atu ki ngā matea ako matatini, ā, ki ngā pēpi me ngā tamariki nohinohi hoki. E tohu ana ngā rāpupuku, e tika ana kia waihanga, kia whakatinana hoki ngā ratonga i te marautanga e āta aro pū ana ki āna tamariki, ā, e whai whakaaro ana hoki ki te āta whakarite i te whakatutukitanga o te mana taurite me te hiringa mō ia ākonga.

Mā tā mātou whakaputa i tēnei angamahi, mā tā mātou whakamahi hoki i tēnei angamahi, ko tō Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga e tūmanakohia ana, kia āta whakatō ngā whare mātauranga kōhungahunga i ngā rāpupuku i whakaraupapahia ai ki ā rātou mahi aromatawai whaiaro i ia te wā, me ā rātou mahi whakamahere, ā, kia noho hoki ērā ki te iho o te aronga whakatairanga o ngā ratonga ā muri ake nei.

 

Introduction

Te Ara Poutama, “Piki Ake, Kake Ake – for those who aspire to seek excellence” | Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most, outlines the conditions that support quality early childhood education, along with the valued learning outcomes.

Indicators are used at different levels of the education system for different purposes, with the selection of indicators depending on the purpose for which they are to be used.

At a national level, indicators provide a means of evaluating how well the system is performing in specific areas of policy interest; for example, participation and access to early childhood education, where the aim is to ensure equitable access for all children, especially children up to the age of three. ERO’s reports on effective practice and other educational issues make an important contribution to such system-level evaluation.

Indicators used primarily for accountability purposes typically require quantitative measures such as scores or ratings. However, quantitative data alone cannot reflect the complexity of an early childhood education service and its community, so it is unlikely to have much effect in terms of promoting improvement.

When used for improvement purposes, indicators generally demand qualitative data. Using indicators effectively requires a deep understanding of change theory, iterative use of evidence, and the continuing development of evaluative capacity.1

This document revises and updates the indicators in He Pou Tātaki: How ERO reviews early childhood services (2013). The revised indicators draw on recent New Zealand and international research and evaluation evidence relating to practice that promotes valued learning outcomes for children from birth to the start of school (0–6 years). They are designed to focus on the things that matter most in contributing to children developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, dispositions and working theories that support lifelong learning. To sharpen this focus, the number of indicators has been reduced.

Underpinned by the regulatory framework,2 the most important purpose of these indicators is to promote improvement for equity and excellence.

Three interconnected metaphors, derived from Te Ao Māori: Aka, Poutama and Ara underpin the differentiated approaches to evaluating for accountability and improvement and the place of the Ngā Akatoro (Domains) and Ngā Rāpupuku (indicators) in these approaches.

This image shows the vine or aka with ERO's three evaluation approaches for early childhood services.

It represents a journey to achieve knowledge or enlightenment. The main vine moves upwards from bottom to top, or base to tip, and from left to right. From the main vine grow stems, then from them leaves and sprouts. Along the main vine as it moves from base to tip are the three evaluation approaches for early childhood services. First, at the base is Akanuku, reviewing for accountability purposes. Next, further up the vine is Akarangi, external and internal evaluation for ongoing improvement. Finally, at the tip is Akamatua, striving for excellence. The stems off the main vine represent the evaluation indicators domains: Ngā Akatoro. The leaves and sprouts are the indicators themselves: Ngā Rāpupuku.

 

The Story of Poutama and Ngā Aka

The Māori concepts that underpin Ngā Ara Whai Hua and the indicators are part of our Māori narratives which are grounded in traditions and stories.

The separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku signalled many changes for their children. They were stunned by the possibilities and potential of their new existence. While different children took responsibility for the development and establishment of their chosen domains, one of the siblings, Tanemāhuta or Tāwhaki (tribal differences) set out in search of knowledge. This knowledge was critical for those that were to be kaitiaki over certain domains. It would set in place the way in which everything would co-habitat and live in harmony.

Tanemāhuta knew that this knowledge was located within the realm of the almighty IO. He developed a plan to ascend through the 10 plains by way of a vine or aka. At each level he would stop, observe, scan and learn about the terrain and in particular possible challenges and conflicts he would encounter. From there he would strategise and plan different routes to get to the next plain. He encountered many barriers but was able to work his way around or through these. It was not an easy journey.

The Poutama is used in many contexts to identify the journey of Tane to achieve knowledge and enlightenment. The vine or aka was the way in which he achieved his feat.

Definition of Poutama and Ngā Ara Whai Hua

The Poutama is a design usually found on a traditional Māori tukutuku panel (woven lattice). It has both spiritual and educational purposes. It is a metaphor that describes the way in which knowledge is pieced together to create a pathway to associated information and skills.

Māori believe that all knowledge related to their history, values, beliefs and practices is linked to create a whole. The Poutama signposts a journey to seek knowledge and enlightenment and identifies the pathway of trajectory which is depicted in the upward movement of the stairway.

 

Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement in Centre-based Early Childhood Services

The Poutama is the metaphor or symbol for Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement in early childhood services. It identifies critical connectable links between each ara or pathway.

Ngā plural, more than one

Ara pathway, route, direction

Whai to follow, pursue, search for

Hua significant, outcome, result

Ngā Ara Whai Hua: Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement in Centre-based Early Childhood Services shows how ERO is changing its approach to evaluating quality and performance (starting with centre- based services) and laying the groundwork for new ways of reporting findings to its various audiences.

 

This image represents Ngā Ara Whai Hua, the Quality Framework for Evaluation and Improvement in Early Childhood Services. It shows the three upward steps of the Poutama, reflecting a design usually found on a traditional Māori tukutuku panel.

The vine or aka follows and wraps around the steps upwards from left to right. Each step, moving upwards, presents one of the evaluation approaches for early childhood services. The first step is Akanuku – Assurance Review. The second is Akarangi – Quality Evaluation. The third and top step is Akamatua – Evaluating Excellence and Innovation. These are accompanied by a stepped-up pattern of parallel lines representing the Regulatory Standards and Te Ara Poutama – Indicators of Quality. At the base of the whole diagram, in three bands, are the foundations. They are: Compliance with Regulatory Standards; the Principles of Te Whāriki; and Whanaungatanga.

 

Guiding principles

The following principles have guided the design of the framework and the selection of indicators.

Ngā Rāpupuku | The indicators:

  • focus on valued learning outcomes for all children as articulated in Te Whāriki
  • foreground the relationships required to enact the te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi
  • focus on the conditions that are most likely to provide equitable opportunities to learn and promote children’s learning
  • are underpinned by a research-based theory of improvement
  • reflect the interconnectedness of the conditions required to promote and sustain continuous improvement and innovation
  • describe what is observable or measurable
  • signal the shift to an evaluation orientation that requires professional knowledge, expertise and engagement.

 

How Ngā Rāpupuku | Indicators are organised

Ngā Rāpupuku | Indicators focus early childhood services and ERO evaluators on those things that matters most in promoting equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

There are two types of indicator: outcome and process.

The outcome indicators are the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki. The expectation is that leaders and kaiako will work with community to unpack the learning outcomes associated with each of the curriculum strands in terms of their community values, and family/whānau aspirations for their children.

The process indicators describe the conditions (systems, processes and practices) that contribute to high quality early childhood education. They are organised in five key domains (Ngā Akatoro) that work together to promote equitable learning opportunities and outcomes for all.

 

Valued learning outcomes for children

Te Whāriki sets the curriculum framework and direction for children’s learning in early childhood services. It reflects these outcomes in its vision statement that children are:

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.3

These aspirations are at the heart of the indicators. Realising them will mean that every child is:

  • confident in their identity, language and culture as a citizen of Aotearoa New Zealand
  • physically, emotionally and spiritually safe and healthy
  • a successful lifelong learner who has knowledge, skills and attitudes combined as dispositions and working theories that support lifelong learning
  • a global citizen, adaptive, creative and resilient, confident to engage in new settings and contribute to society.

Outcome Indicators

The outcome indicators are the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki which are described as broad statements of valued learning “designed to inform curriculum planning and evaluation and support assessment of children’s progress”.4

Over time and with guidance and encouragement children become increasingly capable of:

Wellbeing | Mana atua

  • Keeping themselves healthy and caring for themselves | te oranga nui
  • Managing themselves and expressing their feelings and needs | te whakahua whakaaro
  • Keeping themselves and others safe from harm | te noho haumaru

Belonging | Mana whenua

  • Making connections between people, places and things in their world | te waihanga hononga
  • Taking part in caring for this place | te manaaki i te taiao
  • Understanding how things work here and adapting to change | te mārama ki te āhua o ngā whakahaere me te mōhio ki te panoni
  • Showing respect for kaupapa, rules and the rights of others | te mahi whakaute

Contribution | Mana tangata

  • Treating others fairly and including them in play | te ngākau makuru
  • Recognising and appreciating their own ability to learn | te rangatiratanga
  • Using a range of strategies and skills to play and learn with others | te ngākau aroha

Communication | Mana reo

  • Using gesture and movement to express themselves | he kōrero ā-tinana
  • Understanding oral language and using it for a range of purposes | he kōrero ā-waha
  • Enjoying hearing stories and retelling and creating them | he kōrero paki
  • Recognising print symbols and concepts and using them with enjoyment, meaning and purpose | he kōrero tuhituhi
  • Recognising mathematical symbols and concepts and using them with enjoyment, meaning and purpose | he kōrero pāngarau
  • Expressing their feelings and ideas using a range of materials and modes | he kōrero auaha

Exploration | Mana aotūroa

  • Playing imagining, inventing and experimenting | te whakaaro me te tūhurahura i te pūtaiao
  • Moving confidently and challenging themselves physically | te wero ā-tinana
  • Using a range of strategies for reasoning and problem solving | te hīraurau hopanga
  • Making sense of their worlds by generating and refining working theories | te rangahau me te mātauranga

 

Ngā Akatoro Domains

Ngā Akatoro are five domains that influence the quality of early childhood education:

He Whāriki Motuhake: The learner and their learning

Whāriki are pieces of weaving that hold stories related to specific people, places and times.

Motuhake means ‘unique’.

Whakangungu Ngaio: Collaborative professional learning and development builds knowledge and capability

Whakangungu means ‘to invoke (thinking), prepare and guide’. Ngaio is a metaphor used for people who belong to specific professions, like the ngaio tree they are robust and enduring.

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua: Evaluation for improvement

Aronga means ‘to be focused, attentive, interested, considerate’. Whai hua references the idea of seeking the seed or source of a phenomenon.

Kaihautū: Leadership fosters collaboration and improvement

Kai gives expression to the human element. Hautū is the action of one who provides guidance and direction.

Te Whakaruruhau: Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whaka means ‘to cause something to happen’ Ruruhau is that which provides shelter and protection.

 

Process Indicators

Process Indicators identify conditions that contribute to high quality early childhood education necessary to realise the valued learning outcomes for all children.

 

1. He Whāriki Motuhake: The learner and their learning

1.1  Children’s learning and development in play-based contexts is supported through caring, learning-focused partnerships.

1.2  Children, parents and whānau contribute to a curriculum that recognises their identities, languages and cultures.

1.3  Children have equitable opportunities to learn through a responsive curriculum that is consistent with Te Whāriki.

1.4  Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are valued and an integral part of teaching and learning.

1.5  Children’s learning and development is supported through intentional and culturally responsive pedagogy.

1.6  Assessment practices enhance children’s mana and their learner identities.

 

2. Whakangungu Ngaio: Collaborative professional learning and development builds knowledge and capability

2.1       Children’s learning and development is supported by leaders and kaiako, and others with culturally relevant knowledge and expertise.

2.2       Leaders and kaiako work collaboratively to develop the professional knowledge and expertise to design and implement a responsive and rich curriculum for all children.

2.3       Children’s learning is enhanced through leaders and kaiako engaging in professional learning and development opportunities that contribute to ongoing and sustained improvement.

2.4       Children’s learning is enhanced through leaders and kaiako working as a professional learning community.

 

3. Ngā Aronga Whai Hua: Evaluation for Improvement

3.1       Coherent organisational conditions enable managers, leaders and kaiako to do and use evaluation for improvement and innovation.

3.2       Capability and collective capacity to do and use evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building sustains improvement and innovation.

3.3       Engagement in deliberate, systematic internal evaluation processes and reasoning promotes valued outcomes for all children.

 

4. Kaihautū: Leadership fosters collaboration and Improvement

4.1       Leaders collaboratively develop and enact the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities, recognising te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi as foundational.

4.2       Relational trust enables collaboration and sustained improvement.

4.3       Leaders ensure access to professional learning and development that builds capability.

4.4       Effective planning, coordination and evaluation of curriculum, teaching and learning promote equitable outcomes for all children.

4.5       Leaders develop, implement and evaluate systems, processes and practices that promote ongoing improvement.

 

5. Te Whakaruruhau: Stewardship through effective governance and management

5.1       The learning and well-being of children are the primary considerations in decision making.

5.2       Children’s learning and development is supported through responsive partnerships, including networked relationships between services, agencies and the wider community.

5.3       Outcomes for children and their whānau are promoted by effective systems, processes and internal evaluation.

 

1. He Whāriki Motuhake: The learner and their learning

Te Whāriki defines ‘curriculum’ broadly as “all the experiences, activities and events, both direct and indirect, that occur within the ECE [early childhood education] setting”.5 Its non-prescriptive framework of principles, strands, goals and learning outcomes enables services to use the document in ways that suit their particular contexts.

The expectation is that kaiako will work with colleagues, children, parents and whānau to unpack the strands, goals and learning outcomes, interpret these and set priorities for their curriculum. Te Whāriki explicitly calls for kaiako to work with their community to develop a curriculum that reflects these priorities, their community’s values and the aspirations that families and whānau have for their children.6

Te Whāriki acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and the educational aspirations of Māori and Pacific peoples. Key to providing culturally responsive curriculum for tamariki Māori are practices that are reflective of their cultural worldviews, identities, protocols and behavioural expectations.7 Implementing high quality infant and toddler pedagogy requires kaiako to acknowledge and be responsive to the cultural identities of all children, including Māori and Pacific infants and toddlers.8

Te reo and tikanga Māori is integral to the service’s curriculum and associated teaching and learning practices. Leaders and kaiako promote te reo Māori as a living and relevant language for all children.

The importance of language and culture and how this supports identities for Pacific children is a key consideration. A curriculum that is culturally located and informed by Pacific values, knowledge and practice is key to ensuring positive learning outcomes for children.9

Kaiako who are intentional about their pedagogy understand that children learn in different ways. They also understand the place of both child-guided and adult-guided experiences, and the need for both planned and spontaneous learning experiences. Intentional practitioners draw on up-to-date knowledge of how children learn and develop, understand the service’s philosophy, and give effect to it in their practice and curriculum processes. They use assessment information and a wide range of teaching strategies to respond effectively to the different ways in which children learn.10

 

Process indicator 1.1: Children’s learning and development in play-based contexts is supported through caring, learning-focused partnerships.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako collaboratively develop and maintain responsive, reciprocal and respectful partnerships with:

  • children, parents and whānau
  • the wider community, including schools and external agencies, to enhance children’s learning.

Kaiako work in partnership with children, parents and whānau to support children’s developing social competence, emotional wellbeing and cultural connectedness in play-based contexts.

Leaders and kaiako scaffold children’s learning and development.

Transitions into, within and from the service support and respond to each child, their parents and whānau.

 

Process indicator 1.2: Children, parents and whānau contribute to a curriculum that recognises their identities, languages and cultures.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako purposefully seek the views of children, parents and whānau about strategies for responding to diverse languages, cultures and identities.

Māori children and whānau have authentic opportunities to contribute to the design and development of a curriculum that reflects Māori ways of knowing, being and doing.

Kaiako integrate the languages and cultures of Māori and Pacific children throughout the curriculum.

Leaders and kaiako seek ways to maintain children’s connections to, and fluency in their home language/s and cultural identities.

Kaiako acknowledge, respect and respond to the identities, languages and cultures of children and their parents and whānau.

Kaiako foster dual and multiple language learning, including the learning of New Zealand Sign Language.

 

Process indicator 1.3: Children have equitable opportunies to learn through a responsive curriculum that is consistent with Te Whāriki.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako practices enable all children to participate fully in the curriculum alongside their peers.

Leaders and kaiako:

  • identify and remove barriers to a child’s full acceptance, participation and learning
  • enable children to explore genders in ways that are non-stereotypical and open-ended
  • identify learning support needs and flexibly support children’s learning and development
  • ensure that early interventions are responsive to and inclusive of children’s identified needs.

Children’s mana is recognised and fostered within a responsive curriculum that supports them to:

  • take increasing responsibility for their own wellbeing, the wellbeing of others, and the wellbeing of the immediate and wider environment
  • discuss and negotiate rights, fairness and justice with adults
  • take responsibility, along with kaiako, parents and whānau, for addressing issues of sustainability and local/global citizenship as kaitiaki of the land and environments.

Kaiako who work with infants and toddlers:

  • ensure their approaches to care are culturally responsive
  • engage in appropriate cultural practices with Māori and Pacific children; for example, aroha, communal caregiving, tuakana-teina relationships, oriori and waiata
  • maintain a calm, slow pace that gives younger children space and time to lead their own learning
  • are responsive to children’s verbal and non-verbal cues and signals.

Learning environments for children:

  • are safe and well-resourced
  • are equitable, inclusive and affirming
  • encourage critical thought, wondering and creativity
  • challenge children to explore and become fully involved in a wide variety of learning experiences.

Leaders and kaiako provide a curriculum that positively promotes children’s

  • agency, independence and decision-making
  • sense of security in being able to predict what will happen next

 

Process indicator 1.4: Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are valued and an integral part of teaching and learning.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako:

  • pronounce Māori words correctly and promote te reo Māori using a range of strategies based on relevant language learning theories
  • integrate te reo and tikanga Māori into day-to-day teaching practice.

 

Process indicator 1.5: Children’s learning and development is supported through intentional and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Examples of effective practice

Kaiako thoughtfully and intentionally:

  • give priority to oral language, recognising that it plays a crucial role in identity development and in learning across a range of domains
  • use a range of strategies to encourage children to express and explore their working theories, problem-solving endeavours, and experimentation
  • make links across time, place and activities by revisiting children’s experiences, ideas and interests
  • recognise and extend children’s understanding of mathematical and literacy concepts in different contexts, including those with particular cultural relevance
  • provide opportunities for children to learn about the local and wider community.

Kaiako practice is consistent with the competencies in Tātaiako11 and in Tapasā.12

 

Process indicator 1.6: Assessment practices enhance children’s mana and their learner identities.

Examples of effective practice

The learning outcomes in Te Whāriki provide the basis for assessment for learning.

Assessment for learning practices actively involve children, parents and whānau and take account of their perspectives and aspirations.

Over time, assessment builds each child’s cultural identity, sense of belonging and learner identity.

Effective assessment practice informs planning, curriculum and intentional pedagogy.

Leaders and kaiako gather information about children’s learning and development, analyse it for evidence of progress, and consider implications for teaching and learning.

Leaders and kaiako use assessment information to:

  • make children’s learning visible
  • identify progress and continuity of learning over time
  • identify children’s capabilities and needs for additional support
  • support successful transitions
  • provide children with feedback that acknowledges their learning and recognises their efforts, challenges and successes
  • evaluate how well their curriculum is helping to them to achieve their priorities for children’s learning and use this information to adapt practice.

Assessment practice ensures information documented about children’s learning reflects the cultural contexts in which they live and includes culturally valued knowledges, skills, attitudes and behaviours.

 

2. Whakangungu Ngaio: Collaborative professional learning and development builds knowledge and capability

Quality early childhood education is dependent on kaiako having the professional knowledge and expertise to work with children from diverse cultures and social settings in ways that promote their learning and development. To do this, kaiako need to have an up-to-date understanding of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, supported by relevant theories, including those underpinning Te Whāriki.

As part of their professional learning and development, kaiako need to reflect on what knowledge – and whose – is privileged in their setting.13 This is likely to involve assumptions being challenged and differences recognised. For example, while non-Māori tend to regard knowledge as a common good, Māori view traditional knowledge as a taonga passed down from the ancestors, to be guarded with care and shared with those who will treat it with respect and understanding.14

Our Code Our Standards: Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession15 sets out expectations for the professional and ethical practice of teachers. While the code is directed at those who are qualified and registered, all kaiako and leaders are morally bound to uphold the ethics of the profession.

Building professional capability and collective capacity are core functions of leadership.16 By actively promoting, supporting and participating in professional learning and development, leaders encourage kaiako to inquire collaboratively into their own practice, with the aim of ensuring that all children experience success as learners.17

Teaching and learning is multifaceted and dynamic; it requires kaiako to draw on curriculum knowledge, subject content knowledge, and knowledge of how children learn.18 Effective professional learning and development supports leaders and kaiako to develop shared understandings of curriculum, pedagogy and practice, and then to put these understandings into action. All kaiako need opportunities to build knowledge and expertise in the context of a collaborative and supportive learning community.19 Internal expertise often needs to be supplemented by relevant external expertise. External expertise can challenge thinking and practice.

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation is critical to determining the impact of professional learning on improving kaiako practice and promoting children’s learning and development. Opportunities to embed new learning in practice contributes to sustained improvement over time.

 

Process indicator 2.1: Children’s learning and development is supported by leaders and kaiako, and others with culturally relevant knowledge and expertise.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako:

  • have developed the cultural competence and expertise to provide a rich, responsive and inclusive curriculum for all children
  • are committed to practices that promote success for Māori children such as fostering tuakana-teina relationships or groupings
  • learn about Māori theories and pedagogies, to assist them to enact culturally responsive practices
  • engage with Māori as tangata whenua
  • value and celebrate Pacific and diverse groups of children and their parents and aiga for who they are and what they bring to the service.

 

Process indicator 2.2: Leaders and kaiako work collaboratively to develop the professional knowledge and expertise to design and implement a responsive and rich curriculum for all children.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako have the professional knowledge, including subject content knowledge, to respond meaningfully to children’s interests and inquiries and to support development of their understandings, working theories and dispositions.

Leaders and kaiako work together with children, parents and whānau to design, implement and evaluate a curriculum that is informed by current theories of teaching and learning.

Leaders and kaiako can explain how the service’s curriculum is consistent with the principles and strands of Te Whāriki.

Leaders and kaiako can explain the rationale and process of reviewing and designing their curriculum which includes, for example, the history, protocols and legends of the local area.

Leaders and kaiako demonstrate understanding that, for all children, assessment should promote holistic learning and development.

Kaiako practices demonstrate that care is understood to be an integral part of the curriculum, particularly for infants and toddlers.

 

Process indicator 2.3: Children’s learning is enhanced through leaders and kaiako engaging in professional learning and development opportunities that contribute to ongoing and sustained improvement.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako:

  • take personal responsibility for their own professional learning
  • gather, analyse and use evidence of children’s learning and outcomes to improve individual and collective practice
  • actively engage in critical reflection, problem solving and collaborative practice
  • subject their teaching practice to ongoing inquiry and evaluation.

 

Process indicator 2.4: Children’s learning is enhanced through leaders and kaiako working as a professional learning community.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako have access to professional learning opportunities that:

  • integrate theory and practice
  • engage and challenge their beliefs and practices
  • encourage them to individually and collectively take responsibility for their own professional learning and development
  • deepen their understanding of the curriculum and pedagogical and assessment practices
  • use evidence of children’s progress and learning as a basis for collective inquiry into the effectiveness of teaching practice
  • develop professional knowledge and expertise using context-specific approaches informed by research
  • include multiple contexts in which to learn and apply new knowledge and discuss with others.

Leaders and kaiako inquire into aspects of their practice, asking themselves what works (practical insight) and why (theory); they make evidence-based changes to practice and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of this change.

Leaders and kaiako seek opportunities to share their professional knowledge, expertise and practice with the wider professional community.

 

3. Ngā Aronga Whai Hua: Evaluation for improvement

Evaluation, including inquiry, supports the development of new knowledge and understandings about what works well and what makes the biggest difference to support valued learning outcomes for all children. Effective internal evaluation is always driven by the motivation to improve.20

Evaluation involves making a judgment about the quality, effectiveness and value of policies, programmes and practices in terms of their contribution to desired outcomes. It is deeply influenced by a service’s values, aspirations and perceptions of what matters most for children and their learning. The processes used need to appropriately observe tikanga Māori. Effective and culturally appropriate evaluation activities are those that foster meaningful and honest engagement with Māori.

Evaluation is undertaken to assess what is and is not working, and for whom, and then to decide what changes are needed. Effective evaluation involves systematically asking good questions, gathering evidence, then making sense of the information: “what is and is not working and for whom?” Through this process, evaluation highlights the implications for equity and provides a basis for determining actions for improvement.

Inquiry is an integral part of the evaluation process. It involves identifying an aspect of practice to examine further, asking the right questions, and then seeking evidence and information to be able to better understand the issues involved and respond effectively.

When internal evaluation is done well, processes are coherent, and align with a service’s vision and goals and associated planning. All those involved in the service work collaboratively to ensure that the efforts that have gone into an evaluation lead to ongoing quality improvement.21

 

Process indicator 3.1: Coherent organisational conditions enable governance, managers, leaders and kaiako to do and use evaluation for improvement and innovation.

Examples of effective practice

Evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building are embedded in the policies, systems and processes and practices that collectively express how the service plans for, and takes action to realise its vision, values, goals and priorities for children’s learning.

Appropriate tools and methods are used to gather, store and retrieve a range of relevant information for evaluation and improvement purposes.

Those in governance and managers, leaders and kaiako recognise the importance of child, parent, whānau and community voice, and draw on it to inform priorities for improvement.

Relational trust at every level supports collaboration, risk taking and openness to change and improvement.

Sufficient resources (for example, time, expertise and staffing) are allocated to support change and improvement.

New knowledge is effectively shared within the service and in the wider education community.

 

Process indicator 3.2: Capability and collective capacity to do and use evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building sustains improvement and innovation.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders and kaiako have opportunities for professional learning, mentoring and coaching designed to help them to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to engage in evaluation and inquiry.

Relevant internal and/or external expertise is carefully selected used to build capability and collective capacity in the area of evaluation and inquiry.

Leaders, kaiako and those in governance or management roles are data literate. They:

  • pose focused questions
  • use relevant data
  • clarify purpose(s)
  • recognise sound and unsound evidence
  • analyse and interpret data
  • engage in thoughtful, evidence-informed conversations.

Relevant research evidence is used to generate solutions and to support decision making and strategy implementation.

Participation in evaluation, inquiry and knowledge-building activities changes thinking and behaviour and makes inquiry a habit of mind.

 

Process indicator 3.3: Engagement in deliberate, systematic internal evaluation processes and reasoning promotes equitable outcomes for all children.

Examples of effective practice

Governance, management, leaders and kaiako collaborate to:

  • scrutinise practice through the use of carefully considered questions and evaluative reasoning
  • gather a wide range of relevant and authentic data, use it to identify priorities and actions for improvement, and engage in meaningful decision making
  • monitor the implementation of improvement actions and evaluate their impact
  • generate timely information about the impact of actions and progress towards goals.

Internal evaluation processes enable managers, leaders, kaiako, parents, whānau and the wider community to better understand:

  • how individual children and groups of children are progressing in terms of the valued outcomes in Te Whāriki.
  • how improvement actions have impacted on outcomes
  • what further changes need to be made
  • patterns and trends in outcomes over time
  • how improvement actions have helped realise the vision, values, strategic direction, goals and priorities for learning.

The service engages purposefully with external evaluation, seeing it as an opportunity to review, validate and support its improvement actions.

 

4. Kaihautū: Leadership fosters collaboration and improvement

Leadership is the exercise of influence, whether based on positional authority, personal characteristics, or quality of ideas.22 It is about ‘influence with purpose’, about persuading and supporting others to pursue changes that make a positive difference to children’s learning.23

Effective leaders have a deep understanding of early childhood research and best practice. They provide clear direction, support and guide the members of their team, build effective learning partnerships, and lead internal evaluation.24

In its Leadership Strategy Framework, the Teaching Council defines leadership in this way:

  • Educational leadership is the practice of supporting others to make a positive difference to children’s and young people’s learning. It involves creating and sustaining the conditions known to enhance their learning. It requires the capability to work effectively with colleagues and other adults to support learning and to create new solutions and knowledge together. For those in positional leadership roles it also involves building and sustaining thriving teams and institutions that support ongoing professional learning.25

Another useful definition comes from the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice developed by the College of Early Childhood Educators in Ontario, Canada:

  • Leadership is the practice of engaging with colleagues to draw on collective knowledge and experiences to solve problems, create solutions and improve outcomes. Leadership involves taking and encouraging collective responsibility, contributing to an inclusive and collaborative working environment and creating, coordinating and directing change through vision, inspiration, commitment and contribution.26

Effective leaders:

  • enact the service’s philosophy and work to realise its vision
  • establish a culture of relational trust, where kaiako collaborate to bring about improvement
  • promote children’s learning and equitable outcomes for all
  • build and support professional practice
  • ensure that the efficient operation of the service positively promotes children’s learning.

Leadership in early childhood education is a complex dimension that has only recently received increased attention.27 As a result, leadership discourses have often looked to business models and hierarchical structures for insights into effective management and administration. While it has been common to describe leadership in the sector as under-theorised and under-conceptualised, this is changing as the research base expands.28

Distributed leadership, which interprets the notion of leadership in its broadest sense, is the prevailing model in early childhood education.29 In this model, leadership is about shared vision, collaboration, shifting the balance of power, negotiating, mutual engagement and ongoing learning.30 While appointed leaders may have positional authority, leadership roles and responsibilities are open to everyone, including parents, whānau and children.31 Some services have adopted other approaches to leadership, often also collaborative, which fit well with their philosophy and cultural values.32

Pedagogical leadership is a crucial determinant of effective practice and outcomes for children.33 The overriding responsibility of pedagogical leaders is the improvement of teaching and learning.34 Effective pedagogical leaders know and use the strengths of each kaiako, building them into a cohesive team with a shared sense of purpose and direction.35 Such leaders use their pedagogical and subject expertise to guide curriculum implementation and practice, and to enhance the quality of the education and care that children experience.36

Leaders who promote, support and participate in professional learning and development, and who encourage inquiry and collaboration, are best placed to provide curriculum leadership that will result in all children experiencing success.37 The Education Leadership Capability Framework38 highlights the importance of leaders building and sustaining high trust relationships, collective leadership, and professional communities.

 

Process indicator 4.1: Leaders collaboratively develop and enact the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities, recognising te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi as foundational.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders:

  • advocate for and alongside children, parents and whānau to ensure all children have access to high quality, inclusive education and care
  • actively seek the perspectives and cultural expertise of parents and whānau and incorporate these into the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities for learning
  • create opportunities for whānau Māori to voice their views, then listen and respond
  • align resources to the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities for learning.

 

Process indicator 4.2: Relational trust enables collaboration and sustained improvement.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders:

  • establish organisational conditions that support debate, negotiation, problem solving, and critical reflection on practice
  • model and expect professional accountability and collective responsibility for the wellbeing and learning of all children in the service
  • engage in effective inter-professional work with others who support the health, wellbeing and learning of children and their whānau.

 

Process indicator 4.3: Leaders ensure access to professional learning and development that builds capability.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders ensure access to quality professional learning and development that responds to recognised needs.

Leaders develop internal expertise, with the support of external expertise as appropriate, to ensure that improvement goals are met.

Leaders mentor and coach kaiako to develop their teaching and leadership capabilities.

Leaders and kaiako seek and use evidence about the effectiveness of professional learning processes in improving professional practice and children’s outcomes.

 

Process indicator 4.4: Effective planning, coordination and evaluation of curriculum, teaching and learning promote equitable outcomes for all children.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders:

  • promote a shared understanding of the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities for children’s learning
  • provide opportunities for kaiako to build their knowledge and understanding of Te Whāriki and what it means for curriculum, teaching and learning in their service
  • drive ongoing inquiry into the responsiveness and effectiveness of teaching practices
  • model effective practice as it relates to the planning, coordination and evaluation of curriculum, teaching and learning
  • evaluate the effectiveness of the service’s curriculum processes and practices in promoting learning and achieving equitable outcomes.

 

Process indicator 4.5: Leaders develop, implement and evaluate systems, processes and practices that promote ongoing improvement.

Examples of effective practice

Leaders ensure that policies and practices value and support the identities, languages and cultures, wellbeing and learning of all children.

Leaders develop, implement and evaluate efficient and equitable management processes.

Leaders implement, and use systems for evaluating the effectiveness of, improvement actions designed to achieve equitable outcomes for all children.

 

5. Te Whakaruruhau: Stewardship through effective governance and management

A wide variety of services with diverse ownership and governance structures has emerged in response to the particular social and cultural contexts in which they operate. Variables include parent, whānau and community values, educational aspirations and employment patterns. This diversity of provision extends to philosophies and operating models.

Regardless of the ownership structure, those responsible for governance and management have specific legal responsibilities. These are set out in The Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008 and the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008,39 which together form the regulatory framework. The governance and management roles encompass both accountability and improvement functions.

Although there is limited evidence relating to the impact that governance in the early childhood sector has on learning, recent studies in the school sector suggest that an improvement-oriented (stewardship) approach to the role is most likely to promote valued learning outcomes.40

An ongoing process of review and evaluation allows governance and management to scrutinise every aspect of operations with one key question in mind: ‘Are we doing the right thing here?’ This scrutiny should extend to the service’s priorities for learning, how information is shared, and how performance is tracking in relation to the vision and goals.

It is important that those with governance responsibilities exercise agency, and that they draw on their networks and expertise to grow organisational capacity and improve effectiveness.41

 

Process indicator 5.1: The learning and well-being of children in the context of whānau relationships are the primary considerations in decision making.

Examples of effective practice

Those responsible for governance and management:

  • enact the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi through partnerships, policies and practices
  • actively pursue ways to ensure equity and social justice for all children and their whānau
  • ensure that parent and whānau aspirations materially influence the service/organisaton’s philosophy, vision, goals and plans for children’s learning and wellbeing.

 

Process indicator 5.2: Children’s learning and development is supported through responsive partnerships, including networked relationships between services, agencies and the wider community.

Examples of effective practice

Those responsible for governance and management:

  • facilitate collaboration between the service/organisation and relevant agencies and community organisations to support broader educational outcomes
  • support initiatives that contribute to positive social and community outcomes.

 

Process indicator 5.3: Outcomes for children and their whānau are promoted by effective systems, processes and internal evaluation.

Examples of effective practice

Those responsible for governance and management monitor, evaluate and report how well the service/organisation is meeting regulatory and professional requirements relating to curriculum, health and safety, premises, human resources, finance and administration.

Those responsible for governance and management develop policies and procedures that:

  • are current, coherent, fit for purpose and effectively guide practice
  • enact te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi principles and engage with Māori as tangata whenua
  • guide inclusive practice at all levels of the service
  • make explicit the expectation that kaiako will implement a bicultural curriculum
  • provide environments that are physically and emotionally safe for all children and adults
  • are based on principles of equity and social justice
  • reflect the rights of all children to quality, inclusive early childhood education.

The implementation of these policies and procedures is monitored and evaluated.

Those responsible for governance and management allocate resources in ways that clearly align with the service’s philosophy, vision, and goals for learning (with the outcomes to be drawn from Te Whāriki).

Human resource policies, procedures and practices promote:

  • the recruitment, selection and retention of well-qualified leaders and kaiako
  • a systematic approach to induction
  • opportunities for professional learning and development that focuses on building the capability of leaders and kaiako
  • performance management processes that contribute to the service achieving its vision and goals.

A positive working environment facilitates low turnover of kaiako and is conducive to the building and sustaining of quality adult–child relationships.   

Policies and procedures:

  • encourage kaiako continuity
  • prioritise children’s sense of security
  • ensure kaiako have the needed time to develop positive relationships with each child, their parents and whanau
  • ensure that structural considerations such as qualifications, space, group size and premises support high quality provision.

Those in governance and management roles are supported through effective induction processes.

 

The Indicators as a resource

The indicators are designed to assist ERO evaluators when making judgements about the performance of early childhood services, and to assist services when engaging in internal evaluation.

For ERO, the indicators assist evaluators:

  • to focus on what really matters when making judgments about quality
  • to consider how children are able to exercise agency
  • to maintain an unrelenting focus on tamariki Māori enjoying success as Māori
  • by foregrounding Pacific peoples’ aspirations for their children’s learning
  • by foregrounding diverse learners and those needing additional support
  • by promoting consistency and transparency
  • by providing a basis for discussing with service personnel how they can best support valued learning outcomes for all children.

For early childhood services, the indicators:

  • bring transparency to the review process
  • make clear the basis on which ERO makes its judgments
  • Image removed.highlight factors that contribute to learning outcomes
  • provide a tool that can be used to support internal evaluation
  • can be used to build evaluation capacity.

For parents and whānau, the indicators:

  • describe what quality early childhood education looks like
  • highlight the kinds of practice that have the greatest positive impact on children’s learning and development
  • can act as prompts for questions to ask when choosing a service for their child
  • can support them to engage in discussions and decisions about their child’s learning.

The indicators can be used to identify both areas of strength and areas for improvement. Where evaluation against the outcome indicators indicates poor (or excellent) performance, the process indicators can be used as a tool to investigate the contributing conditions.

ERO is developing a resource for early childhood services to support the use of these indicators in internal evaluation.

 

Publication Information and Copyright

Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most Published 2020

© Crown Copyright

ISBN 978-0-478-43898-7

Except for the Education Review Office’s logo used throughout this report, this copyright work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Education Review Office and abide by the other licence terms. In your attribution, use the wording ‘Education Review Office’, not the Education Review Office logo or the New Zealand Government logo.

 

Footnotes

1 Earl, L. (2014). Effective school review: considerations in the framing, definition, identification and selection of indicators  of education quality and their potential use in evaluation in the school setting. Background paper prepared for the review  of the Education Review Office’s Evaluation Indicators for School Reviews.

2 Ministry of Education (2008). Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. Wellington.

2 Ministry of Education (2008). Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008. Wellington.

3 Ministry of Education (2017). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum. p. 5.

4 ibid., 16.

5 Ministry of Education, (2017). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early Childhood Curriculum.

6 Gunn. A. (2018). Review of Ngā Pou Here Te Pou Mātauranga me te Pou Tikanga Whakaako. Paper prepared for the review of the ERO’s Evaluation Indicators for Early Childhood Education Services.

7 Rameka. L. (2018). A commentary on Ngā Pou Here, ERO’s conceptual framework for reviewing early learning services. Background paper prepared for the review of the ERO’s Evaluation Indicators for Early Childhood Education Services.

8 Cooper, M. (2018). Commentary on ERO’s evaluation indicators for early learning services with a focus on infants and toddlers. Background paper prepared for the review of the ERO’s Evaluation Indicators for Early Childhood Education Services.

9 Glasgow, A. (2018). Evaluation indicators for ECE Reviews: ERO’s conceptual framework Ngā Pou Here. A commentary from a Pacific perspective: Te Pou Mātauranga Me Tikanga Whakaako. Background paper prepared for the review of the ERO’s Evaluation Indicators for Early Childhood Education Services.

10 Education Review Office. (2016). Early learning curriculum. What’s important and what works.

11 Ministry of Education (2011). Tātaiako – cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners. Wellington.

12 Ministry of Education (2018). Tapasā- cultural competencies framework for teachers of Pacific learners. Wellington.

13 Walker, R. (2008). The Philosophy of Te Whatu Pōkeka: Kaupapa Māori assessment and learning exemplars. The First Years: Ngā Tau Tuatahi, New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education 11 (1), 5-9

14 Rameka, L. (2018). A commentary on Ngā Pou Here, ERO’s framework for reviewing early childhood services. Back- ground paper prepared for the review of the review of the ERO’s Evaluation indicators for early childhood education services.

15 See https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf

16 Robinson, V., Hohepa, M. & Lloyd, C. (2009). School leadership and student outcomes: Identifying what works and why – Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

17 Thornton, K. (2010). School leadership and student outcomes. The best evidence synthesis iteration: Relevance for early childhood education and implications for leadership practice. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice 25(1), 31-41.

18 Cherrington, S. (2018). Early childhood teachers’ thinking and reflection: a model of current practice in New Zealand.

Early Years, 38(3), 316-322. DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2016.1259211.

19 Thornton, K., & Cherrington, S. (2018). Professional learning communities in early childhood education: A vehicle for professional growth. Professional Development in Education, doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2018.1529609.

20 Education Review Office (2016). Effective internal evaluation for improvement. Retrieved from: https://www.ero.govt.nz/our-research/effective-internal-evaluation-for-improvement

21 Cousins, J.B., & Bourgeois, I. (2014). Cross case analysis and implications for research, theory, and practice. In J.B. Cousins & I. Bourgeois (Eds.). Organisational capacity to do and use evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 4, 101–119.

22 Robinson, V., Hohepa, M. & Lloyd, C. (2009). School leadership and student outcomes: Identifying what works and why – Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

23 See https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Leadership_Strategy.pdf

24 Education Review Office: Early Mathematics: a Guide for Improving Teaching and Learning (2016). Continuity of Learning: Transitions from Early Childhood Services to Schools (2015). Infants and Toddlers: Competent and confident communicators and explorers (2015). How do Leaders Support Improvement in Pacific Early Childhood Services (2015). Partnership with Whānau Māori in Early Childhood Services (2012). Literacy in Early Childhood Services: Teaching and Learning (2011).

25 See https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Leadership_Strategy.pdf

26 See https://www.college-ece.ca/en/Documents/Practice_Guideline_Professionalism_EN.pdf

27 Ord, K., Mane, J., Smorti, S., Carroll-Lind, J., Robinson, L., Armstrong-Read, A., Brown-Cooper, P., Meredith, E., Rickard, D., & Jalal, J. (2013). Te Whakapakari Kaiārahi Āhuatanga Ako Kōhungahunga: Developing Pedagogical Leadership in Early Childhood Education. Wellington: Te Tari Puna Ora O Aotearoa.

28 Cooper. M. (2014). ‘Everyday teacher leadership’: A reconceptualisation for early childhood education [online]. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 29 (2), 84-96.

29 Thornton, K. (2018). A review of ECE Evaluation Indicators: A leadership focus. Background paper prepared for the review of the ERO’s Evaluation Indicators for Early Childhood Education Services.

30 Clarkin-Phillips, J. (2011). Distributed leadership: Growing strong communities of practice in early childhood centres. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 26 (2), 16.

31 Cooper. M. (2014). ‘Everyday teacher leadership’: A reconceptualisation for early childhood education [online]. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice. 29 (2), 84-96.

32 Tamati, A., Hond-Flavell, E., Korewha, H., & Whānau of Te Kōpae. (2008). Centre of Innovation research report of Te Kōpae Piripono. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Available from: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz.

Matapo, J., & Leaupepe, M. (2016). A duo-narrative of Pasifika early childhood education: Reconceptualising leadership in the political and social landscape. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 31 (1), 55-62. Matapo, J. (2017). Navigating leadership in Pasifika early childhood education: Traversing the tides of change. He Kupu 5(1), 44-52. Available from: https://www.hekupu.ac.nz/article/navigating-leadership-pasifika-early-childhood-education-traversing-tides-change

33 Clarkin-Phillips, J. (2009). Distributed leadership: utilizing everyone’s strengths. Early Childhood Folio 13, 22-26.

34 Carroll-Lind, J., Smorti, S., Ord, K., Robinson, L. (2016). Building pedagogical leadership knowledge in early childhood education. Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 41 (4).

35 Ord, K., Mane, J., Smorti, S., Carroll-Lind, J., Robinson, L., Armstrong-Read, A., Brown-Cooper, P., Meredith, E., Rickard, D., & Jalal, J. (2013). Te Whakapakari Kaiārahi Āhuatanga Ako Kōhungahunga: Developing Pedagogical Leadership in Early Childhood Education. Wellington: Te Tari Puna Ora O Aotearoa.

36 Education Review Office. Infants and Toddlers: Competent and confident communicators and explorers (2015). Priorities for Children’s Learning in Early Childhood Services (2013). Literacy in Early Childhood Services: Teaching and Learning (2011). Quality in early childhood services (2010).

37 Thornton, K. (2010). School leadership and student outcomes. The best evidence synthesis iteration: Relevance for early childhood education and implications for leadership practice. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice 25(1), 31-41.

38 See: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Leadership_Capability_Framework.pdf

39 See https://education.govt.nz/early-childhood/licensing-and-regulations/the-regulatory-framework-for-ece/

40 Wylie. C. (2014). Rethinking governance indicators for effective school review. Background paper prepared for the review of the Education Review Office’s Evaluation Indicators for School Reviews.

41 Agency is defined as ‘the energy level of proactivity, drive and commitment to governing’ (James, 2010, cited in Wylie, 2014, ibid., 6).