Te Whāriki · Aotearoa
Te Whāriki (2017), the early childhood curriculum of Aotearoa New Zealand, is woven from four principles and five strands. The principles are the foundations of every curriculum decision: Whakamana | Empowerment, Kotahitanga | Holistic development, Whānau tangata | Family and community, and Ngā hononga | Relationships. The strands describe the areas of learning. The 2017 update kept the same principles and strands and reduced the learning outcomes from 118 to 20.
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Te Whāriki's 4 principles, 5 strands and 18 goals, on one page
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Reviewed 30 September 2026 · Written by Leo, who builds StoryLoop, in Ōtautahi Christchurch
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A real note an educator typed, and the start of the draft StoryLoop wrote from it, unedited, with the Te Whāriki links, learning and next steps to follow.
Aroha tried to put her shoes on before going outside. Velcro kept folding over. Asked 'help me' then pushed my hand away and did the second one herself. Stood up and stomped both feet.
Putting on her own shoes
Before going outside, Aroha tried to put her shoes on by herself. The Velcro kept folding over, making the job trickier. Aroha asked, "help me", letting us know clearly that she needed support.
When help was offered, Aroha pushed the adult hand away and did the second shoe herself. Once both shoes were on, she stood up and stomped both feet. This looked like Aroha checking that her shoes were on and feeling the result with her whole body.
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Whakamana | Empowerment: the curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow. Kotahitanga | Holistic development: it reflects the holistic way children learn and grow. Whānau tangata | Family and community: the wider world of family and community is an integral part of the curriculum. Ngā hononga | Relationships: children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things.
Mana atua | Wellbeing. Mana whenua | Belonging. Mana tangata | Contribution. Mana reo | Communication. Mana aotūroa | Exploration. Each strand has goals and learning outcomes, and there are 20 learning outcomes across the five.
The principles describe how you work with tamariki and whānau. The strands describe what children are learning. A learning story usually links to strands and learning outcomes, while the principles show in how the moment was noticed, whose voice is in it, and how you responded.
Whakamana | Empowerment. The curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow. In practice that looks like tamariki making real choices, their ideas taken seriously, and their mana upheld: an educator following a child's plan for the block tower rather than replacing it with their own.
Kotahitanga | Holistic development. Children learn with their whole selves: body, feelings, thinking, spirit and relationships at once. A child climbing the frame is also problem solving, managing fear and watching a friend. Learning is seen as connected, not split into separate skills.
Whānau tangata | Family and community. The wider world of whānau and community is part of the curriculum, not an audience for it. What whānau know and hope for their child shapes what happens at the service, and learning connects to home, culture and community.
Ngā hononga | Relationships. Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things. The quality of those relationships, with kaiako, other children, the environment and the materials, is where learning happens.
Most learning stories link to strands and learning outcomes, but a good story shows the principles too. The child's own words, kept exactly, and the choices they made reflect Whakamana. Describing the whole moment, not one skill, reflects Kotahitanga. A whānau voice section, or a question for home, reflects Whānau tangata. Naming who and what the learning happened with reflects Ngā hononga.
None of that needs labels. It needs a story written from what actually happened, in a way the child and their whānau would recognise.
The five strands are Mana atua | Wellbeing, Mana whenua | Belonging, Mana tangata | Contribution, Mana reo | Communication and Mana aotūroa | Exploration. Each has goals and learning outcomes, 20 learning outcomes in all. When you link a story to a strand, name the strand and say in a sentence why the moment fits it: that reason is what makes the link honest.
Official references
These sources inform this guide. StoryLoop is independent and does not claim endorsement.
FAQ
Whakamana | Empowerment, Kotahitanga | Holistic development, Whānau tangata | Family and community, and Ngā hononga | Relationships. They are the foundations for curriculum decisions and a guide for every aspect of teaching and practice.
The principles are the foundations: how the curriculum treats the child, their whānau and their relationships. The five strands are the areas of learning and development, each with goals and learning outcomes. In Te Whāriki the two are woven together, like the whāriki the curriculum is named after.
Twenty, across the five strands. The 1996 version had 118. The principles and strands themselves did not change in 2017.
No. Stories usually link to strands and learning outcomes. The principles show in the story itself: the child's own words and choices (Whakamana), the whole child rather than one skill (Kotahitanga), whānau voice (Whānau tangata), and the people, places and things the learning happened with (Ngā hononga).
A whāriki is a woven mat. The curriculum uses it as a metaphor: four principles interwoven with five strands, and each service weaving its own curriculum from them for its tamariki and community.