The review process

This whakatauākī emphasises the importance of the strands of the takapau being woven together in a way that will make them strong and enhance the mat. In the context of review, following a process can support us to engage in review that is relevant and empowering. As we work through this section, we can ask ourselves, “How effective are our review processes in providing evidence that we can use to inform and transform our practice?”

Preparing, gathering, making sense, and deciding form the basis for review. Like a weaving, they overlap and interlink, but they are all important parts of the process. We move back and forth between the parts of the process according to the pattern of our curriculum whāriki – which aspects of our practice we want to look at in review and why.

A review story from Aratika Educare (fictitious name for this service) illustrates the process of preparing, gathering, making sense and deciding. Their review took place over a 3-month period.