Glossary

Aotearoa

New Zealand

Ingoa

Name

Kaiako

Teacher

Karakia

Prayer, blessing of something

Kōhungahunga

Centre, ECE Setting

Kōrero

Talk, conversation

Kura

A school where te reo Māori is embedded

Mana

The power of being, authority, prestige, spiritual power, authority, status and control

Mauri

Vital essence, life principle, essential quality

Pēpi

Baby, infant

Tamaiti

Child

Tamariki

Children

Taonga

Gift, treasure

Teina

Toddler, young child

Tuakana

Older child / preschooler

Tuakana/teina

Older child - more knowledgeable other or expert

Wā

Time

Wairua

Spirit

Whakapapa

Lineage, genealogy, ancestry

Whānau

Family

Whare kōhungahunga

ECE centre/service

Whāriki

Mat

Whanaungatanga

Relationships

The intentional use of te reo Māori throughout this website aligns with the ECE curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) that orients kaiako practice in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

“Te Whāriki offers a means of resolving some of the most important paradoxes facing becoming(s)… by encompassing a view of the child as both interchangeable and co-constitutional”

- Mika & White, 2019, p. 29