What alternative education options are available in New Zealand?

How do you choose the right daycare, kindy, or school for your child? And what are the benefits of alternative styles? Let's explore the options available here in NZ and take a closer look at some of the different philosophies.

Conversations about education can start earlier than you expect when you have children. It’s a big decision that you might be making when they’re less than a year old, especially if they’re heading to any kind of daycare or preschool.

There are lots of childcare options in New Zealand, including your local public kindergarten, or a private daycare offering longer hours than a kindy. You can also find caregivers who work through organisations like Porse looking after a small group in a home setting, often including their own child, or if you prefer childcare in your own home, you can find a nanny that comes to you.

Within these settings, you’ll often find a mix of philosophies and practices used, such as the tactile teaching methods of Maria Montessori, storytelling of Rudolf Steiner, or the deep whānau involvement of a kōhanga reo; each bringing something special to the early childhood experience.

Some education centres focus solely on a particular philosophy however, and you can find something that suits your children from early childhood to high school. Let’s take a look at three very different approaches, all with the child at the centre. 

STEINER: EDUCATING THE HEAD, HANDS AND HEART 

When you visit a Steiner kindergarten, you’ll find yourself in a space dominated by soft shapes and colours and natural materials. There are no plastic toys or screens, instead there is a focus on spontaneous free play and teacher-led, practical activities like baking, craft and gardening, for children to imitate. There is also storytelling, song, art and rhythmic games designed to foster creativity and imagination.

In a primary setting, there will be fewer toys, but just as much focus on art and nature, with a garden often part of the grounds, and storytelling a major focus as a way to teach both academic subjects like maths, and life skills such as conflict resolution and empathy. The 'main lesson' is a unique feature of Steiner and is a daily lesson on a particular theme or subject, taught for several weeks, with a variety of related activities. At high school, there are more specialist teachers and in-depth curriculum, and the students are challenged to think deeply, including about their place in the world.

The approach is the brainchild of Rudolf Steiner, and according to The Education Hub, “focuses on imaginative, aesthetic and holistic methods to support children to reach their full potential as creative, intelligent and well-rounded human beings.”

Education lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Neil Boland, has taught at all levels in Steiner schools, and says the approach is a particularly gentle one, particularly in early childhood, often talked about as “the education that allows time”, with formal academic learning not focused on until around age seven. This allows the children to develop a sense of self, be comfortable in their own bodies, and allow their five senses to develop.

“Steiner aims to create a holistic child, using a hand-heart-head approach through the age groups. In early childhood, it’s the hands that are engaged via art and play and more doing than thinking; at primary school, the heart comes into play via more feelings and engagement through art and drama; and at secondary school, the students are engaged via the head, through clear and independent thinking, and more advanced learning and analysis,” says Neil.

In a Steiner school, teachers are often with a class for several years, providing continuity and stability. This is just one of the aspects that Isabelle, a mama I spoke to, loves about Steiner, which is where her daughters, now aged 7 and 13 have been since kindergarten. Both have developed strong relationships with staff and classmates, “The teachers know the students completely,” and the school has provided the girls and their parents with a strong, supportive community.

“We love the positive environment there,” says Isabelle, who wanted the girls to go to a school where academic pressure was not on too early and school was a place they enjoyed going.

MONTESSORI: A CHILD-LET APPROACH TO LEARNING

You can easily mistake Golden Grove School in Onehunga for another local character home, with its white wooden building and mature trees. It’s when you see students reading on the veranda and playing in the gardens that you realise it’s a school and when you go inside, it’s full of colour and warmth and engaging resources.

The Montessori school caters for years one to eight, with around 25 in the junior school, aged 6-9 and 25 in the senior space, for ages 9-12, with transition from one area to the other tailored to the individual student.

Head teacher Helena Royden founded the school 15 years ago and sees it as a place of respect, kindness and peace, and Montessori as a child-focused approach.

“It’s quite individualised, we follow the children’s interests, and whenever a child has an interest in a particular area, we ensure that we follow that as much as we can. We can also relate what they do need to know based on their interests, and guide them in that.

“For instance, a child might need to learn punctuation, so we can include that in a variety of ways through other lessons, and areas they are interested in.”

It’s an approach also known for its use of materials and tactile learning, so rather than understanding something abstractly, a child learns it through doing and touching. This might be through using strings of beads to learn how to skip count, and solve other maths problems.

Nicola’s two sons have thrived in the Montessori school, with one just graduated and one in the senior class. Both have enjoyed the self-directed learning and being able to be part of the collective effort to look after the school and its natural environment – feeding the chickens and fish and acting as librarians.  

The Montessori approach was developed by Italian doctor Maria Montessori in 1907, and its key principles are: respect for the child, shown by giving them independence at a young age; the ‘absorbent mind’, where children constantly learn by exploring the world and absorbing information; sensitive periods, in which children are ready to learn certain skills at a particular stage of life; prepared environments, where the child learns best in an environment where materials are available to access independently; and self-education, where the teacher is there to support, guide and encourage, and trust the child’s capacity to learn independently and make good decisions.

Learning occurs in three-year sequences, allowing children to learn at their own pace in an environment where there are lots of different age groups. In early childhood, the main areas of learning are: real life – learning skills like caring for plants and setting the table; sensorial – developing skills in using their five senses to understand the world; cultural studies – learning about the world around them through subjects like geography, art and music; and maths and language – using tactile, hands-on learning materials, like metal insets, to develop pencil control and hand-eye coordination.

Sarah, a Montessori mama we spoke to, moved her daughter to a Montessori school in the middle of Year 4, after her mainstream school no longer gave her what she needed to succeed. That ‘temporary’ change is now into its second full year, and her daughter is thriving in the smaller, student-led environment, able to stay engrossed in an activity if she’s not ready to move on, and having more time and space to think and process in the peaceful environment.

KŌHANGA REO AND KURA KAUPAPA MĀORI: AN EDUCATION IMMERSED IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Uniquely New Zealand education approaches, kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori offer an education immersed in Māori language and a philosophy and practice that reflects Māori cultural values. The first kōhanga and kura were founded in the 1980s following the language renaissance of the 1970s, with an aim to continue this revitalisation of the Māori language and culture, long-term. These schools allow for the natural instillation of values such as manaakitanga (caring, friendship, love and nurture), whānaungatanga (relationships and responsibilities), rangatiratanga (leadership, confidence, self-determination) and whakatoi (playfulness and cheekiness). They also focus on the concepts that describe the stages of the learning process: Mohiotanga – what the child already knows and can do, which they bring to the learning experience; Mātauranga – the challenge involved in learning something new and the struggle of learning as the learner comes to understand it; and Maramatanga – the understanding and feeling of achievement that comes from the struggle (via The Education Hub).

A kōhanga reo (language nest) is for children from birth to six years old, and it works as a true collective, with whānau deeply involved in running the kōhanga and creating a space where mokopuna are immersed in their language and culture; learning about their identity as Māori and their genealogical links to the land, mountains and rivers.

Whānau involvement continues at kura kaupapa Māori, where Te Aho Matua is the guiding document, with six core principles:

+  Te Ira Tangata focussing on the innate physical and spiritual aptitude of children and creating child-centred learning environments

+  Te Reo focussing on how kura kaupapa Māori can best develop competence in te reo Māori and English, though te reo Māori is the daily language of the kura

+  Ngā Iwi focussing on connecting children with their own genealogy and ancestral links, exploring and celebrating shared iwi and hapū connections and teaching children about the wider world

+  Te Ao looks at how a child’s experiences in their own home, in the Māori world, and in the world at large, influences their learning

+  Āhuatanga Ako focussing on the teaching practices that are vital to a child’s education, including ensuring classrooms and learning are stimulating and positive

+  Te Tino Uaratanga looks to the future, and what a child needs to be successful.

They are doing something right too, with kura kaupapa Māori students achieving higher NCEA results than students from decile 9 and 10 schools, and Māori graduates of kura kaupapa more likely to go on to higher education than their contemporaries coming out of mainstream schooling.

HOW TO CHOOSE A CHILDCARE PROVIDER

There is enormous amount of trust involved in choosing the right person or organisation to look after your little one. Allow plenty of time to explore your options, visit multiple centres or carers until you find the right fit. It’s often the start of a beautiful new chapter for your whānau and with the right environment, your child will thrive!

For more great education resources, visit theeducationhub.org.nz 

Words: Amanda Peart