Glossary

C

Coordinator

The person who has primary responsibility for overseeing the education and care, comfort, and health and safety of the children, and providing professional leadership and support to educators within the service.

Curriculum

In early childhood means the “sum total of experiences, activities and events, whether direct or indirect, which occur within an environment designed to foster children’s learning and development”.

E

Educator

The person with the designated role of providing education and care directly to children in his or her care and attends to the health and safety of those children.

K

Kaiako

Teacher.

Kōhanga reo

Māori language early childhood centres which come under the umbrella of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.

M

Matua

Parent or father.

Mātua

Parents.

P

Papa kāinga

Residential area located around or in close proximity to the marae.

Parent

The person (or people) responsible for having the role of providing day-to-day care for the child and may include a biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, partner of a parent, legal guardian or member of the child’s whānau.

T

Tamaiti/tamariki

Child/children.

Tangata whenua

Indigenous people of the land.

Te reo Māori

The Māori language.

Tikanga

Customary practices.

W

Whānau

• Family.
• The person (or people) responsible for having a role in the care and education of the child and may include grandparents, aunties and uncles, nieces and nephews, and other relatives.