UNIT STANDARD: 9314
Programme planning is a vital part in an early childhood education service to provide quality education and care for the children. Throughout my essay I will be describing the purpose of programme planning in an early childhood education setting which will include the examples of how programme planning can be used and the components of programme planning and how they are related to Te Whaariki which is the “national curriculum for early childhood sector”. (Ministry of Education, 1996. p. 7)
To do programme planning in an early childhood education service, the educators link their planning to the documents, which are the Desirable of Objectives (DOPs), Te Whariki and the Regulation, 2008. In an early childhood education service planning cycle has no end. It is a continued cycle. According to the Te Whariki it states that “Planning the curriculum Whariki should be a continuing process, involving careful observation, identification of needs and capabilities, provision of resources, assessments, and evaluation”. (Ministry of Education, 1996. p. 28)
The purpose of programme planning in an early childhood education service is to improve the ways that the educators work with children, help the educators to understand each child’s interest, strengths, needs, weaknesses, skills, knowledge, personality and cultural background and to find the learning and development progress of children. (Ministry of Education, 1998. p. 30). “Planning also help the educators to understand what children are learning, how the learning happens and the role that both educators and children play in children’s learning and development”. (Ministry of Education, 1996. p. 28)
To do planning, educators set goals and provide quality programmes to help children to learn and develop. According to Te Whaariki the purpose of planning is also to provide safe environment of learning and development
References: Ministry of Education. (1996). Te whāriki early childhood curriculum: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum.Wellington, Ministry of Education. (2008). Licensing criteria for early childhood education and care centres 2008 and early childhood education curriculum framework Regulation (2008). Certification Criteria for Centrebased 2008: Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework New Zealand Teachers Council. (2004). Code of ethics for registered teachers. Wellington: New Zealand.