<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper offers a brief personal reflection on some leadership related observations from work as an early childhood teacher educator over the past thirty years. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education is a specific area that has previously not been sufficiently prioritised and has only comparatively recently been affirmed in government policy as a key focus of education henceforth. This paper reflects on some of the underlying reasons for this omission within education, pointing to notions of white supremacy in the colonialist assumption of sovereignty and ongoing racism that has negatively impacted on educational experiences and outcomes for Māori in Aotearoa and has also resulted in the degradation of our environment despite Tiriti o Waitangi assurances about the sustenance of rangatiratanga and protection of taonga which should have supported ongoing kaitiakitanga of te taiao. Some hopeful recent policy initiatives are acknowledged. It finishes with recognition of the current climate emergency and the need for urgent educational leadership required in response.</p></abstract>

This paper offers a brief personal reflection on some leadership related observations from work as an early childhood teacher educator over the past thirty years. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education is a specific area that has previously not been sufficiently prioritised and has only comparatively recently been affirmed in government policy as a key focus of education henceforth. This paper reflects on some of the underlying reasons for this omission within education, pointing to notions of white supremacy in the colonialist assumption of sovereignty and ongoing racism that has negatively impacted on educational experiences and outcomes for Māori in Aotearoa and has also resulted in the degradation of our environment despite Tiriti o Waitangi assurances about the sustenance of rangatiratanga and protection of taonga which should have supported ongoing kaitiakitanga of te taiao. Some hopeful recent policy initiatives are acknowledged. It finishes with recognition of the current climate emergency and the need for urgent educational leadership required in response.

Ko tēnei te wā…. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education, teacher education, and early childhood care and education

Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This paper offers a brief personal reflection on some leadership related observations from work as an early childhood teacher educator over the past thirty...

Ko tēnei te wā…. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education, teacher education, and early childhood care and education

Article Category: article

Published Online: Nov 19, 2020

Page range: 1 - 12

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2020-006

Keywords
Tiriti o Waitangi education, anti-racism; social justice, climate crisis

© 2020 Jenny Ritchie et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Ko tēnei te wā…. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education, teacher education, and early childhood care and education

Article Category: article

Published Online: Nov 19, 2020

Page range: 1 - 12

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2020-006

KeywordsTiriti o Waitangi education, anti-racism; social justice, climate crisis

© 2020 Jenny Ritchie et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Tiriti o Waitangi education, anti-racism; social justice, climate crisis