Kei Tua o te Pae

How does the documentation here contribute to language and storytelling?
Are documented assessments revisited, with the opportunity for adults and teaching peers to give feedback on the learning and for children to express their ideas?
What evidence is shown in assessments that te reo Māori is recognised as a poutokomanawa?
Do children have a voice in the documented assessments?
Are assessments clear about the languages and modes of communicating that are valued here?
Do documented assessments s…

1 Gordon Wells (2002). “Inquiry as an Orientation for Learning, Teaching and Teacher Education”. In Learning for Life in the 21st Century: Sociocultural Perspectives on the Future of Education, ed. Gordon Wells and Guy Claxton. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, p. 205.

2 Early Childhood Learning and Assessment Exemplar Project Advisory Committee and Co-ordinators, 2002.

3 Iram Siraj-Blatchford and Priscilla Clarke (2000). Supporting Identity, Diversity and Language in the Early Years. Buckingham:…

11 August - Mūmū Te Āwha na Whaea Re-nee 

Mūmū Te Āwha was watching Mira drawing on the whiteboard. She picked up a pen and began to draw alongside Mira, glancing over her shoulder to see what Mira was drawing then continuing with her own picture. After a short period Mūmū Te Āwha decided to use two pens, one in each hand, then changed to both in one hand. She drew circles with great concentration holding the two pens. She was very impressed with the outcome and asked Mira to look at her work.…

Child: Leo

Date: April

Teacher: Janine

A Learning StoryToday, at changing time, Leo put his legs up in the air. I said, “Tō waewae ki runga” then followed this sentence with “Tō waewae ki raro” (Put your legs down). Leo did not respond, so I gently pushed his legs down. I repeated, “Tō waewae ki runga” and he lifted his legs up, smiled and waited for the next command, “Tō waewae ki raro”, and down Leo’s legs went. Leo initiated this game later in the week and repeated the last two words of th…

A broad definition of the learning of symbol systems and technologies is provided by one of the goals in the Te Whāriki Communication/Mana Reo strand: “Children ... experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures.”14 However, the learning that these four books focus on is not confined to this strand. The Exploration/Mana Aotūroa strand includes becoming competent with a range of tools for pretend, symbolic, or dramatic play. Listening to stories and using books as references a…

The story so far... Over the past year the kindergarten has been involved in a programme of bicultural development as part of our special focus on biculturalism. During this time the children have been involved in kapa haka and have demonstrated their learning through performances at Te Waitawa House and at the kindergarten for the new entrants class from school. We have also been becoming familiar with a range of Māori stories from the past and te reo me ngā tikanga Māori.

Last year we were fo…

"Exemplars are examples of assessments that make visible learning that is valued so that the learning community (children, families, whānau, teachers, and beyond) can foster ongoing and diverse learning pathways." 13

Book 1 of Kei Tua o te Pae defines documented and undocumented assessment as noticing, recognising, and responding. The first nine books of Kei Tua o te Pae provide some guidelines about what assessment to look for. They are assessments that:

include clear goals;
are in…

Harrie came to me today and said she wanted to make a mermaid pool. She had painted her face and was a mermaid. She had wonderful ideas – the pool was to have glitter and flowers and water! So we went on a hunt for the items required and soon lots of other children joined in – excited by her idea.

What next?Harrie wants to make a mermaid outfit 

Harrie told me she wanted to make her mermaid outfit. “OK – it would be a good idea to draw a plan – so you know how you want it to look,” I suggested…

What opportunities are there for documented assessments to be revisited in this early childhood setting, and in what ways does this revisiting contribute to relationships between children and between children and adults?
What examples indicate that assessments are very clear about the learning that is valued in the Contribution/Mana Tangata strand of Te Whāriki? In what ways is continuity for that learning documented?
How do assessments reflect an inclusive and equitable culture in this early ch…

This is the first of five books on assessment in the domain of symbol systems and technologies for making meaning.

In the Reggio Emilia programmes in northern Italy, symbol systems are described as "one hundred languages" for making meaning and communicating.1 Carlina Rinaldi writes about listening "to the hundred, the thousand languages, symbols and codes we use to express ourselves and communicate, and with which life expresses itself and communicates to those who know how to l…

These books on symbol systems and technologies for making meaning employ three lenses to analyse the exemplars:

a lens focused on assessment practices, referring to the definition of assessment as “noticing, recognising, and responding” from Book 1 of Kei Tua o te Pae;
a Te Whāriki lens;
a lens that focuses on the symbol systems and technologies for making meaning – literacy (oral, visual, and written), mathematics, the arts, and information communication technology (ICT).

In Book 4 of this series, “Jak builds a wharenui” is an exemplar of children making a contribution to their own assessment.

"Jak approached me in the back room and asked if I could help him build something. We sat down together and talked about what he would like to build. Jak started to put a base down. “What could this be, Maya?” Jak asked me. “I’m not sure, but maybe it’s the floor of a building,” I replied. “Look around you, Jak. What could this be?”

Jak carefully looked at the pictur…

10 February

Zalaluddin is a Malaysian boy, Sajed is from Afghanistan and Art is from Kosovo. They are good friends and take care of each other.

Sajed and Zalaluddin were driving the truck. They left Art behind and Art was looking unhappy. I asked him, “What is the matter?”

He said, “I like to play with them and drive the truck. They do not want to have company.”

I asked him if he would like to have another truck and play with it but he wasnʼt happy about it and said, “No no no! I like to pla…

Children: Zachary and Erin

8 February

Teacher: Carol

Sitting on the chair with Zach, going to Africa “to do ballet”, Erin is wearing a tutu. When in “Africa” she changes her dress and gives one to Zach so he can do ballet too. They dance to music on the radio for a little while and then move off to separate activities. 

Parent’s voiceIt was great to see how Zach joined in with Erin’s game. He really does enjoy moving to music and it is nice to see him feeling comfortable enough to express hi…

1 Ann L. Brown, Doris Ash, Martha Rutherford, Kathryn Nakagawa, Ann Gordon, and Joseph C. Campione (1993). “Distributed Expertise in the Classroom”. In Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations, ed. Gavriel Salomon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 7, pp. 188–228 (quote from p. 217).

In this chapter, Ann Brown and colleagues write about classrooms as being communities of learners. This research is in a school context, but early childhood centres can be u…

The following exemplars in other books can also be viewed from a Contribution/Mana Tangata perspective.

Note: Almost all of the exemplars in Kei Tua o te Pae are affirmations of the children as learners, so no additions have been made for the domain to do with affirmation as individuals.

Book 2: Becoming a friend, becoming a learner; The mosaic project; Assessments in two languages; Toddlers as teachers

Book 3: Making jam; Hatupatu and the bird woman

Book 4: Your brain is for thinking; Tayla…

The exemplars in this book illustrate possible ways in which assessing, documenting, and revisiting children’s learning will contribute to educational outcomes in the curriculum strand Contribution/Mana Tangata.

Children are provided with opportunities to contribute to their own assessments
Children have formative assessments that they can “read” and comment on
Group assessments illustrate children’s developing skills and dispositions to initiate, maintain, and enjoy relationships with other ch…

Te Whāriki  elaborates on the Contribution/Mana Tangata strand as follows:

Ko te whakatipuranga tēnei o te kiritau tangata i roto i te mokopuna kia tū māia ai ia ki te manaaki, ki te tuku whakaaro ki te ao … Kia mōhio ia ki ōna whakapapa, ki te pātahi o ōna whānau, ki ōna kaumatua me ōna pakeke … Kia mōhio hoki ki a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku, ā rāua tamariki, me ngā kōrero mō rātou.4

Opportunities for learning are equitable and each child’s contribution is valued.

Children experience an en…

Introduction - He kupu whakataki

Indeed, it was in this [research] process that we came to recognize – in practice as well as in theory – the critically important role of dialogic knowledge building in fostering the dispositions of caring, collaboration and critical inquiry that are at the heart of our vision of education.1

This book collects together early childhood exemplars that illustrate the assessment of learning that is valued within the curriculum strand of Communication/Mana Reo, keep…

In this section
Equitable opportunities for learning
Affirmation as individuals
Learning with and alongside others