The Education System in New Zealand - Essay Example

Quality Curriculum Quality Curriculum The value early childhood education has in a person’s life cannot be overestimated.It is a famous saying that “the way a twig is bent, a tree is inclined” (Bugwadia, 2010). This comes to highlight that early childhood education has a resounding impact on the future life of the child. The first eight years of the life of a child are considered to be the most significant in the development of the child’s personality. In fact it is the first eight years of a child’s life which are classified into the early childhood period (Bugwadia, 2010). During this time, the education that the child receives and the mental development that he or she undergoes is an indicator of how his educational development would turn out to be on the whole. Moreover early childhood education plays a crucial role in the success of educational activities in the life of the child as he or she grows older. This essay explores the concepts of self-review and quality in early childhood education and their implications. If the provision of early childhood education is considered a service, it is essential to monitor the quality of the service and to ensure client satisfaction. Early childhood researchers have developed a number of methods and programs to investigate and record the quality of educational endeavors (Spodek & Saracho, 2006, p.460). The fact that methods for the measurement of quality have emerged is representative of sustained commitment and dependability. The use of standards to determine quality necessitates that proper knowledge is gained regarding the usage of the instrument used for the method in order to interpret the results with accuracy. Moreover, an effective method for measuring quality entails that multiple aspects of early education need to be taken into consideration. Currently, the most effective systems for documenting the quality of early childhood education encompass measureable objectives and specific indicators (Spodek & Saracho, 2006, p.460). Indicators of quality can include both basic standards and resources. Basic standard indicators measure a range of factors like physical space, staffing, hygiene, and nutrition. On the other hand, resources include toys and materials. The quality of the relationship between the child and the adult, as well as flexibility to the working hours of the parents and the concept of cost-effectiveness are also considered as indicators of quality (Parker-Rees & Willan, 2006, p.292). In order to analyze an educational strategy, three criteria have been developed: structure, process and outcome. Structural criteria refer to the organizational framework and resources of the institutions providing education to children. Process entails the monitoring of activities that occur inside the institution, whereas outcome is considered in terms of the achievement of developmental milestones of the child as well as customer satisfaction (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2007, p.96). New Zealand, like many other Western countries, places great emphasis on the provision of quality early childhood education and has been witness to many reforms over the past few years (Loveridge & Peters, 2004). Early childhood education in New Zealand is based on two leading principles. These are working in partnership with parents or whànau to encourage and further the learning of each child and to devise a curriculum that promotes the utmost development of the children in terms of their competency, health, sense of belonging and contribution to the community (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2009a). Quality in Action deals with the promotion of the bicultural approach that has been proposed by Te Whāriki, while at the same time mirroring the diversity and ethnicity of the population of New Zealand (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2009a). Significant changes in the approaches taken to assess quality have occurred over the last two decades, three of them being the publication of government documents namely ‘Te Whāriki He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum’, ‘Kei Tau o te Pae Assessment for learning: Early Childhood Exemplars’ and ‘Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices’ (Ki, 2009). Te Whāriki was introduced in 1996 and is primarily responsible for the current day system of assessment and evaluation of quality (Ki, 2009). Ki (2009) observes that before the Te Whāriki was introduced, the assessment of the education provided encompassed Piaget’s developmental doctrines that were based on the philosophy that development is followed by learning. To evaluate this, children were divided into different age groups and were expected to complete particular tasks in order to qualify being a part of their age group. If they did not, those activities were considered to be aspects that needed improvement. Therefore this system lead to the process called deficit value. Conversely, Te Whāriki supported Vygotsky’s developmental views which encompassed that development follows learning. The advantage of such an approach was that a continuous developmental model emerged, where each child received individual attention. The children were made to work in areas that would interest and inspire them, leading to the development of the system called credit value (Ki, 2009). Another methodology that is used in the development of a quality curriculum is self-review. Tracing back its origin to New Zealand, self-review entails a process in which the managerial body of each institution makes a report on their review of their processes, inclusive of all the controls (Cascarino & Esch, 2007, p.63). The review can be based on an assortment of factors ranging from process improvement and evaluation to peer review and management by walking around (Cascarino & Esch, 2007, p.63). Review helps to establish the quality of the education being provided as it is an intentional and ongoing method for evaluating how effectively is the education developing and honing the learning and development of the child (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2009b). It enables service providers to determine which areas of their service are producing the required results and which areas need further improvement. Therefore, one can establish that the concepts of self-review and quality are intricately tied together in the provision of early childhood education. There are many benefits of self-review. Not only is it good for the practice of management but it also facilitates decision-making and planning. Moreover, it is required for meeting the requirements of reporting the progress and level of quality of the service provided to Māori parents, whānau, and the society as a whole (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2010). However, the concept of self-review has not been used as smoothly as it is expected to. Wansbrough (2004, p.24) observes how there is a certain degree of confusion regarding self-reviews since many educational centers are unable to comprehend the concept of self-review and are unclear of whether their practice of self-review essentially conforms to its basic character or not. The Ministry of Education in New Zealand has developed self-review tools to facilitate teachers and in-school leaders to put National Standards into effect and to provide quality education to youngsters. Thus, self-review, although a deliberate process, is near to a requirement in New Zealand, aimed to promote quality. The process of self-review and quality education in New Zealand has helped the country maintain a high level of quality service being delivered. This can be established from the fact that the education system in New Zealand serves as a model for other countries to follow (Li & Williams, 2006, p.222). One of the major stimuli that made institutions in New Zealand consider self-reviews seriously was the Education Amendment Act of 1990 (Meade & Woodhouse, 2000). The Act also gave authority to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), representative of a statutory auspice, to regulate the provision of quality education by service providers (Harvey, 1999). The result of such high level of intervention and regulation is that New Zealand now boasts of a good public education system, ranging from pre-school to university (Palffy, 2008, p.194). The Labour government, led by Henry Clark, has been actively involved in making early childhood education available to everyone and to provide children a healthy start to their education (Palffy, 2008, p.194). According to Peter Moss, New Zealand’s early childhood education program is integrative in nature which helps to bring together all aspects of “education-in-its-broadest-sense” (One, 2010, p.3). He observes that “New Zealand has, in short, understood the need to rethink as well as restructure early childhood education and care” (One, 2010, p.3). There have been many benefits of the 20 hours per week of early childhood education (ECE) for children. These include that parents are now able to increment the number of hours of teacher-led services where their children were already studying, greater membership as cost is not a barrier, the ease of access to ECE without any discrimination based on income status etc and better educational development and learning of the children (Stewak5, 2010). On the other hand, there were also certain drawbacks of this policy. Since the number of hours already enrolled children were attending increased, waiting lists were created. Despite the aim of the policy to be available for everyone, it is still inaccessible to low-income families. Furthermore, the service is provided for only six hours every day, making it difficult for families to manage their work schedule. Many of these disadvantages have been documented by the research conducted by the Early Childhood Council (ECC) (Stewak5, 2010). The review conducted by the ECC helps the government evaluate the effectiveness of its policies and is therefore an important factor for making the ECE system successful in the country. The quality indicators are applied by the service providers extensively, as directed in the set of standard procedures used by the ERO to conduct reviews. There are number of quality indicators in effect in New Zealand. The provision of quality ECE is linked strongly to the competence of the teachers. Therefore, the training of teachers is an important determinant of the quality of ECE provided. Until recently, there was a minimum requirement for ECE service providers to hire at least 75% qualified teachers out of the total staff (Ministry of Education, 2005). However, recent changes in the budget, implemented from October 2010, have decreased the budgetary allocation to ECE service providers, requiring only 80% of the staff to be qualified. Also, research has established that the quality of ECE service is greatly enhanced if the staff has had three years of training (Smith, 1996). Another determinant of the quality of ECE is teacher-child ratios. It is necessary for the ratio to be balanced in order for children to receive adequate attention needed for their development and training. Research has shown that smaller group sizes have led to a more positive interaction between the teachers and the children (Smith, 2003). Staff wages and the work environment are also essential to the provision of quality ECE. The wages of the staff has been found out to be the single, most effective indicator of quality for the education of toddlers (Smith, 1996). The implementation of self-reviews and quality indicators has implications for both learning and teaching. The focus on the achievement of the developmental objectives of the children rather than a mere indulgence in activities meant to keep the children busy will result in better learning of the children. They are more likely to perform better in their future academic life. Furthermore, the provision of quality education to children also leads to greater customer satisfaction and an increase in the popularity of the program. For teachers, self-reviews and quality indicators is necessary to keep their job focused on the development and learning of the child. Teachers would be motivated to perform better and engage in continuous professional development since they are required to account for their actions. As a result, the increased emphasis on the development of the children and the better performance of the teachers would result in quality service provision. The criteria that graduation would be the minimum requirement for ECE teachers would not only create a demand for graduate teachers and open up more opportunities for people looking for employment. Also, ECE would then be provided by teachers with a minimum level of competence, skills and knowledge. This would ensure greater quality of the services being delivered. Provision of quality education has profound impact not only on the children but also on the teachers. A sound education can only enhance the teaching experience, but it will also generate the ability in the teacher to contribute constructively towards the education and learning of the children. A quality curriculum would also inculcate in the teachers the competence to deliver education that helps to achieve learning as well as emotional and social milestones in the children. It will contribute to the attainment of learning and development associated with early childhood education. Quality indicators and self-review can play an integral role in the delivery of quality education. Staff wages, and other benefits to the teacher, such as sick leave, would also increment the quality their performance. If higher salaries are seen to improve the performance of the teachers, an increase in salary can be used by the government to enhance the quality of the education provided. Teachers that are given positive working environments will feel greater job satisfaction; this will not only improve their performance, but it will create in them the will to work harder and to participate actively in the children’s education. Smaller teacher to child ratios and teachers with higher qualifications are also more likely to increase upon the teaching experience as well as scaffold quality education. Positive teacher-child learning interactions, in more manageable students-teacher groups, will provide opportunities for the expansion and development of language. It will also encourage healthy interaction with other children, and make children think and reason critically. Access to good-quality ECE can also play a crucial role in the reduction of poverty, prevention of ill-health and mitigation of inequities, all of which are important tools for promoting the rights of the children (Smith, 2010). ECE is not compulsory and therefore is not able to attract sufficient government funds. Improvements in the quality of service provided by ECE centers can be brought about by the provision of more resources to the centers. It has been seen that ECE receives less funding than education for older children. Due to the popularity of the ECE amongst people, it steps need to be taken to reduce the waiting lists. This does not mean that the teacher-child ratio should be disturbed. Rather more resources should be invested in the formation of quality ECE centers. There is also room for improvement in the quality of service provided by ECE centers. Implications for the future would also include that greater stress is put on the improvement of the quality of service by the government. This can be achieved by hiring qualified teachers and giving them good salaries to retain them (Smith, 2003). Moreover, the quality of the service being provided will also affect the number of customers. Parents are likely to place their children in institutions which provide high level of care and quality (Smith, 2003). Therefore, the ECE delivery should be programmed according to the requirements of the locals and high standards of quality (Smith, 2003). There are further implications of quality indicators and self review on learning and teaching in the near future. It has been proposed that the funds allocated for the Twenty Four hours program would be decreased. This would lead to a succession of events characterized by underfunding, an erosion of the quality of service being provided and the recruitment of teachers with lower qualifications in order to manage their salaries according to the budgetary resources available. It has been well-documented that children who receive ECE perform better in their academic life. However, the proposed reforms in the ECE in New Zealand will contribute little to the development of quality educational environments for children. The reduction in the quality would also gravely influence the capability of the childhood sector to work with families to generate caring and imaginative citizens who appreciate learning greatly (Davies, 2010). The proposed measures in the field of ECE are going to affect centers who work with 100% qualified teachers. There are concerns being raised as to who these centers are going to pay teachers, and families are equally concerned about the future of ECE. According to Professor Anne Smith from the University of Otago, if children are not provided with quality education, it will be an opportunity missed for the development of continuous learning throughout their lives (Davies, 2010). Thus, the education system in New Zealand is in a continuous state of improvement. This is primarily because of self-review and maintenance of quality. There are various indicators that are used to ensure that quality service is being provided. Moreover, early education service providers are required to make a self-review report in order to enhance and promote their services. This has implications both for learning and teaching. In the past, some people in New Zealand faced problems in accessing quality ECE service. However, the government has taken note of that and is working for the improvement and increased ease of access to the services. Reference List Bugwadia, G. (2010). The importance of early childhood education. 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