The following shows how agency and adaptability are woven through each of the strands of 'Te Whāriki'.
Safe, stable and responsive environments support children to develop a sense of agency and skills for adaptability. Kaiako can empower children by encouraging independence, allowing choices, and responding to their needs. When children feel secure and well-supported, they are more able to adapt to surprising or challenging events and make the most of changing learning opportunities.
When children feel a sense of belonging, they know that they can make choices, share their strengths and interests, and have an influence on what happens. Children come to a setting with mana and whakapapa, and kaiako should demonstrate appreciation for every child’s unique identity and diverse ways of being and doing. Belonging to a community brings the benefits of agency and responsibility for the group; children learn to take action for themselves and for others.
Children are empowered to participate and contribute by kaiako who know them well and listen to their ideas and questions. Opportunities for collaboration help children to learn to be flexible and co-operative, while also experiencing their contribution being valued by others. The curriculum design in each early childhood setting should be woven in response to the children’s unique strengths and contributions and be flexible enough to adapt to children’s changing abilities and interests.
Children are inherently motivated from birth to develop communication skills to convey their thoughts, plans, wants and needs. As communication skills increase, children can negotiate, problem-solve and compromise to accommodate other people’s ideas and perspectives and advocate for their own. Kaiako should encourage children to initiate conversation, listen to them attentively, and help to develop and extend their language skills and vocabulary, including in te reo Māori and their home languages.
Children’s curiosity drives them to explore the world around them. Kaiako can intentionally create a context where children are empowered to investigate, make choices, set their own challenges and to create. Children develop confidence through familiar and unfamiliar experiences and build resilience to cope with uncertainty and solve problems. An enriching learning environment is where kaiako have considered and intentionally created a place which supports children to explore and engage in learning that is meaningful to them.
