“The value is enormous — It’s priceless i think!” New Zealand preschool teachers’ understandings of the early childhood curriculum in New Zealand — A comparative perspective

摘要

This article examines a group of New Zealand preschool teachers’ perspectives on their early childhood curriculum —Te Whãriki: He Whãriki Maatauranga mo ngaa Mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education, 1996). In this discussion we focus on the teachers’ understandings of the meaning, value and focus of this curriculum document. This is part of a small-scale qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with eight and nine preschool teachers undertaken in each of three countries — Norway, Sweden and New Zealand (during 1999–2002). We conclude this article with a comparative discussion of some of the similarities and differences between the three countries.