Pedagogy of Third Space in Aotearoa New Zealand: Exploring the Power of Indigenous Culture in Play

Play has been a major component of kindergarten pedagogy in kindergartens since they were first established in Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 1800s. Froebelian pedagogy informed these early kindergartens, and the introduction of the progressive ideas of the early 1900s New Education movement expanded the emphasis on free play. Despite the 1840 Tiriti o Waitangi assurances that Māori autonomy, lands, rights, and beliefs would be protected, te ao Māori, the Māori worldview, the Indigenous people in Aotearoa had been marginalised through processes of colonisation which imposed Euro-western pedagogies via the English language education system. The introduction of the innovative bicultural curriculum Te Whāriki signalled a radical change via the expectation for the inclusion of Māori language and cultural practices across early childhood education. This paper illustrates how children’s play is shaped by diverse pedagogies with a particular focus on the possibilities that the inclusion of te ao Māori can bring for children in Aotearoa. By examining the manifestations of different cultures in children’s play, we suggest that Māori worldviews enrich the Western construct of play and contribute to a mana model of play in Aotearoa.