Te Whariki Early Childhood Curriculum Review and How it Compares to the Early Years Framework for Australia

New Zealand's early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, was drafted in 1993 and the final version published in 1996. Some argue that it is time now to review and update Te Whāriki.

It is a good idea to look at the curriculum documents produced in other countries more recently to see what the strengths and possible weaknesses of the NZ curriculum may be before forming a view as to whether or not Te Whāriki should be revised.

The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia titled "Belonging, Being and Becoming" was published in 2009.

Concepts in the EYLF and Te Whāriki are very similar, and as Australian early childhood professional guru, Joy Lubawy explains the wording is similar in lots of places, but with a little twist here and there, mostly saying the same things due to being grounded in the same sources and pedagogies.

Both documents go into detail about how the curriculum in practice will look and what we will see children doing when they are achieving outcomes or goals. Joy Lubawy notes that the USA curriculum "Standards" are also similar yet slightly different.

Below is an outline which makes the similarities and differences between the NZ and Australian curriculum documents clearer.

Following the outline, links to NZ relevant research and critical discussion are provided and you are warmly invited to add your votes, thoughts and comments on the need or otherwise for a revision of Te Whāriki to be commissioned by the Ministry of Education.

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