Application of Treaty of Waitangi Principles in Auckland Kindergarden

This report examines the application of the Treaty of Waitangi (TOW) principles within the context of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA), an early childhood education center in New Zealand. The report begins with an introduction to the TOW principles of partnership, protection, and participation, as outlined by the Royal Commission on Social Policy. It then provides an overview of the AKA, detailing its history, values, and educational models. The core of the report analyzes how the AKA implements the TOW principles, including examples such as the normalization of Te Reo Maori and the inclusion of Maori representatives on the board. The report discusses the impact of these principles, highlighting the protection of Maori cultural heritage and the promotion of biculturalism. The report concludes by summarizing the significance of the TOW principles in the context of early childhood education and the Auckland Kindergarten Association. The report also explores the relevance of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and the historical background of the Treaty of Waitangi. The report also includes recommendations to improve the performance of the organization. The report emphasizes the importance of partnership, protection, and participation in creating a supportive and culturally responsive learning environment for children.

Analysis of Treaty of Waitangi Application in Business

Table of Contents
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................2
Overview of the Chosen Organisation...........................................................................................3
Relevance and Importance of TOW principles.............................................................................4
Examples of application of TWO principles in Auckland Kindergarden Association...............6
Impact of including TWO Principles in Auckland Kindergarden Association...........................6
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
Introduction
Each and every child should be treated as a treasure as children are born with huge
possibilities. The potentials and possibilities of a child need to be nurtured and developed so
that he/she can identify his/her true qualities and build a strong foundation for his/her future.

In new Zealand early childhood care centres play major roles in shaping children’s future,
they provide high quality educational opportunities to children (Haggerty &Alcock, 2016).
Many organisations in New Zealand are legally obligated to apply the principles of Treaty of
Waitangi or TOW in their everyday activities. These principles mostly focus on children and
their needs and place them at the centre of the entire education system. TOW principles were
introduced by the Royal Commission on Social Policy in 1988. TOW is one of the major
eight values in New Zealand that help educational institutions to make effective decisions
(Cherrington& Thornton, 2015). According to the clauses of TOW, the curriculums should
focus on challenging and engaging students so that they can learn efficiently, it should be
inclusive and progressive in nature, and it should include the factors that are associated with
New Zealand’s unique identity. In this paper the importance of the TOW principles in the
education system will be evaluated (Lourie, 2016). The Auckland Kindergarten Association
will remain at the centre of this entire discussion. The impacts of adopting TOW principles
will also be explained properly; finally a few recommendations will be made that might help
this organisation to improve its performance in future.
Overview of the Chosen Organisation
Auckland Kindergarten Association is an early childhood education centre situated in
Auckland. AKA was established in 1908, now this is a charitable organisation consists of
various types institutions such as 5 playgroups, 107 kindergartens and 5 KINZ Early Day
Care. AKA is the final outcome of the famous movement called ‘New Zealand free Kinder
Garden Association Movement (1889).’ New Zealand’s first free early childhood learning
centre was funded by Mr. and Mrs. John Logan Campbell. They helped AKA both financially
and materially to successfully carry out their project. This organisation has been receiving
financial aids from many individuals and organisations since the beginning of its journey
(Grace, 2017).
AKA is considered to be the largest early learning centre in New Zealand. Near about 10000
young people get admitted to this organisation each year. As an influential educational
organisation the main purpose of AKA is to engage children, communities and whanau in
responsive and relevant early childhood learning activities. AKA fosters five values, those
are, Commitment towards its purposes, respect, collaboration, trust and positive outlook. The
primary objective of this organisation is to provide enriching and safe learning opportunities
to children (Ritchie, 2018). According to their mission statement AKA aims to support
Auckland by offering ‘leadership in education’. As per the vision statement of this

organisation, this organisation aims to provide children with high quality learning opportunity
so that they can identify their true qualities and excel in their respective fields; they also
believe that children should learn to respect their culture and cultural distinctiveness. AKA
values the culture of partnership and they closely work with parents and various voluntary
groups.
This organisation aims to provide high quality ‘Early Childhood Education’ to children by
properly applying the most important kindergarten philosophy, ‘learning through play’. This
organisation provides educational facilities through 3 different learning models, those are,
kindergarten model, KINZ Care and Learning model and Play Group model. Kindergartens
offer learning facilities to children between the ages of 2 to 5 years. The core principle of the
kindergarten model is teaching children through play (Broadley, 2016). Both regular and
seasonal classes are offered by AKA’s kindergartens. KINZ on the other hand offers full-day
care (7 am-5 pm) with nutritional meals. This model aims to provide services to infants from
the age of 3 months. The play group model of education allows adults to participate in the
learning process with their children and other parents. Play group services are completely
free. The 3 hours session enable parents to understand their children and to build strong
bonds with the same. Only registered and properly qualified teachers get the opportunity to
work with this organisation (About the Auckland Kindergarten Association, 2019).
Relevance and Importance of TOW principles
New Zealand’s administration and governance are strongly influenced by the treaty of
Waitangi. This agreement was signed between leaders of the Maori tribes and the
representatives of the Queen of England in 1840. 2000 Europeans (including whalers,
missionaries and traders) and 100000 Maori people were present there while the treaty was
being signed. The primary purpose of this treaty was to protect the interests, resources and
lands of the indigenous people. TOW made it mandatory for the government to act
reasonably and make favourable decisions for the indigenous communities. It also introduced
the concept of equality and established the principle of equality before law (Glynn, 2015).
Treaty of Waitangi plays a major role in New Zealand’s education system. Most of the
scholars think that treaty of Waitangi is an important symbol of New Zealand’s history and
heritage. They also promote this treaty as the centre to New Zealand’s future. Since children
are considered to be the future of a country, they must have the opportunity to learn their

culture and heritage. Therefore the teachers are expected to provide their students with
bicultural learning so that they, especially the children belonging to the Maori community can
recognize their places in New Zealand’s history (Wepa, 2015). The Royal Commission
suggested three principles to be applied to the social policies, those are, participation,
protection and partnership. These principles were applied properly by the New Zealand
Government to enhance the quality of educational opportunities offered by various
organisations.
 Partnership: partnership is all about forming strong relationships among people and
organisations and working as a team with people belonging to various communities
such as Maori, iwi, whanau and hapu in order to develop effective strategies in
relation to Maori Education. This principle encourages the Maori community to get
involved with every aspect of the education system. It also aims to provide students
with place-based education that involves detailed information regarding their origin,
and geographic background. According to this principle Maori people should be
involved in the board of trustees so that equality for this community can be assured.
Power sharing is also an important aspect of this principle.
 Protection: protection is all about taking effective initiatives to protect Maori
interests, knowledge, identity, culture, language and values. According to scholars it
is important to teach students where they have come from and to encourage them to
respect and nurture their cultures. Including and learning ‘tikana’ is also very
important in this context.
 Participation: this principle put great emphasis on engaging Maori community in
each level of modern education system. Ensuring the success of Maori Community
through educational advancement is also very important in this context. Therefore
people associated with the education system need to strengthen the relationship
between schools and homes, involve Maori communities in the decision making
process and promote biculturalism in the schools.
Accordion to the Social Policies, in case of educational organisations the treaty partners are
children, teachers and family. This treaty aims to strengthen the relationship between these
partners. The concept of participation is all about providing people with a clear guideline that
talks about commitment, interaction, honours, mutual respect, and faith. All of these
principles enable the care givers, Maori organisations and Whanau to build positive

relationships with one another. This principles enable people from Maori community to take
part in the decision making process and to voice their opinions strongly (values, 2019). The
primary aims of these new policies are to open doors for the Maori students and to welcome
and value them in the mainstream education system so that the cultural and social gap can be
filled which these people have been facing for a long period of time.
Examples of application of TWO principles in Auckland Kindergarden Association
The treaty of Waitangi of New Zealand consists of various principles that considers students
the heart of the education process. According to TWO principles, the curriculum of study
should be designed in such a way that children are engaged in the learning process and also
are able to face the challenges that they face and not give up under any circumstance. The
Maori community in New Zealand has a different dialect. So it is difficult for them to cope up
with the education process. The principles of the treaty of Waitangi aims in providing support
to the Maori children so that they face no difficulty while pursuing their education. The
Auckland Kindergarden Association is an educational organization for the younger children
of Auckland which was established in the year of 1908. This child care organizations
implements the principles of the treaty of Waitangi in its workings. Certain positions in the
board members of the organization are reserved for the Maori representatives so that proper
decisions can be taken keeping in mind the interests of the Maori children. Te reo Maori is
normalized in the classrooms of Auckland Kindergarden Association as well as among the
staff members and teachers of the organizations. This helps in maintaining the Maori culture
as the TWO principles emphasizes on placing importance on culture along with education.
The TWO principles also focus on the fact that children from their early childhood should be
provided guidance in such a way that they are able to face the challenges that come in their
way. Children in the Auckland Kindergarden Association decide their own play routine and
chose any kind of activity according to their own will. This enhances their decision making
process. From their various play activities various skills are developed in them that would
help them further to overcome the difficulties that they would face.
Impact of including TWO Principles in Auckland Kindergarden Association
The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi include Partnership, protection and participation.
Providing support to the Maori children so that they face no difficulty while pursuing their
education is one of the main aims of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Auckland
Kindergarden Association is an educational organization for the younger children of

Auckland which was established in the year of 1908. It follows the principles of TWO in its
working. Te reo Maori is normalized in the classrooms of Auckland Kindergarden
Association as well as among the staff members and teachers of the organizations. Therefore
the cultural heritage of New Zealand is protected and preserved. New Zealand is a culturally
diverse land and there are various cultures like Maori. The principles of TWO helps in
maintaining the cultural diversity and encourages the children to hold on to their cultural
identity and be proud of it. The curriculum of the organization is designed in such a way that
children would learn to value their cultural heritage and grow along with it.
With the advancement of technology, the world is changing at a rapid rate and the children
need to be guided In such a way that they develop skills sets in order to cope up with the
changing environment and overcome the challenges that would come in their way. Children
in the Auckland Kindergarden Association decide their own play routine and chose any kind
of activity according to their own will. This would help the children to brush up their decision
making skills and also develop various skills through the various play activities that would
help them to be adaptive to the changing environment. The play activities also accelerates
their creativity and problem solving skills from the very early childhood.
Conclusion
Thus concluding, it can be said thatThe treaty of Waitangi of New Zealand consists of
various principles like partnership, protection and participation that is followed by various
educational organizations in New Zealand in order to design their curriculum accordingly.
This assignment studies the case of The Auckland Kindergarden Association which is an
educational organization for the younger children of Auckland and was established in the
year of 1908. It follows the principles of TWO in its working. This assignment provided a
background and history of the organization. The goals and objectives of the organization and
the process of its workings and its contribution in the society were also studied. As per the
vision statement of this organisation, this organisation aims to provide children with high
quality learning opportunity so that they can identify their true qualities and excel in their
respective fields; they also believe that children should learn to respect their culture and
cultural distinctiveness. Then the concept of the treaty of Waitangi was analysed in
depth.Most of the scholars think that treaty of Waitangi is an important symbol of New
Zealand’s history and heritage. They also promote this treaty as the center to New Zealand’s
future.There are several principles in this Treaty which include Partnership, protection and
participation. The importance and relevance of the TWO principals were also discussed in

this assignment.The partnership principle encourages the Maori community to get involved
with every aspect of the education system. The protection principle initiatives to protect
Maori interests, knowledge, identity, culture, language and values. The participation principle
puts great emphasis on engaging Maori community in each level of modern education system
Examples were provided of how The Auckland Kindergarden Association implements the
TWO principles in its workings. How the principle of TWO affected the children of the
organization were analysed in this assignment as well. At last certain recommendations are
provided that can enhance the inclusion of the inclusion of the principles of TWO.
Recommendations
In order to enhance the TWO principle implementation, several steps can be taken by The
Auckland Kinder garden Association. They are as follows:
 In order to encourage the various communities like Maori communities so that more
and more children are encouraged to join the school, day meals schemes should be
included in the organization. Free books and stationaries and study material should be
provided to them.
 A translator should be present in the classroom in order to translate the English
language to the native dialects so that is enhances the learning process of the children.
 Appraisals and prizes should be provided to the children on the completion of their
daily play activities so that they are motivated and this would boost their learning
process as well.
 After the play activities are over, the teachers should ask the students to keep their
toys and play items in their respective places and this would enhance the
organizational skills of children at a young age and also they would learn the
importance of cleanliness.

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