The Minister of Education Erica Standford has announced the extension of an the oral language programme ENRICH to over 450 early childhood education services. “The programme is based on the findings from the Otago study Kia Tīmata Pai initiated by Professor Ritchie Poulton and aligns with our world leading curriculum Te Whāriki” Amanda Coulston said. “It’s another approach, adding to the rich and diverse range of resources available to support and enhance teaching practice.”

Our curriculum reflects the complexities of children’s development, and teachers take a holistic approach to their learning. “The nature and quality of adult interactions with tamariki is central to their learning and to the curriculum” Amanda Coulston said. “The research evidence tells us authentic, sustained, intentional teaching delivered by qualified teachers is a key component of high-quality early childhood education.”

Qualified teachers understand education theory and practice, and how tamariki learn. Teachers know how to assess children’s learning progress and plan next steps, are intentional in their teaching and interactions with tamariki, and facilitate language rich environments to ensure tamariki are confident in their own language, identity and culture. Teachers build on the knowledge and experience each child and their whānau bring to extend learning.

“It’s reassuring to see the minister supporting and resourcing the curriculum, and we welcome additional funding in the sector” said Amanda Coulston. “However, it’s ironic that at the same time, the Associate Minister of Education David Seymour’s funding review group has proposed cutting funding to services that employ 100% qualified (degreed or equivalent) teachers and his Ministry of Regulation recommended qualifications should be ‘flexible.’

“Although most services operate with higher numbers of qualified teachers, the law requires only 50% of adults in early childhood education services to be qualified teachers” Amanda Coulston said. “Almost 25 years ago the government planned to achieve 100% qualified workforce by 2012. Arguably our statistics would be entirely different if that had happened.”

“We know high-quality early childhood education makes a significant difference for every tamaiti, and qualified teachers are central to that” said Amanda Coulston. “The minister’s focus on the curriculum could be the catalyst for implementing policy (to achieve 100% qualified teaching workforce), optimising the benefits of our curriculum in supporting every child to thrive.”