Assessment for Belonging
Aromatawai mō te Mana Whenua

The exemplars in this book illustrate some ways in which assessing, documenting, and revisiting children’s learning will contribute to educational outcomes in the curriculum strand Belonging/Mana Whenua.

• Assessment contexts and tasks are “varied in interest, offer reasonable challenge, help [learners] develop short-term, self-referenced goals, focus on meaningful aspects of learning and support the development and use of effective learning strategies.” Tasks/activities/projects as sites for assessment encourage learning goals that allow children to understand and “own” the questions and problems.³
• Portfolios can become an artefact of belonging, signifying the relationship between the learner and the setting.
• Documented assessments contribute to a positive transition for children, families, and whānau into the early childhood setting and invite their ongoing participation in the community of the early childhood service.⁴
• Assessment collections document the interests and funds of knowledge⁵ that children bring from home, as well as the interests that they develop in the early childhood setting.
• Opportunities for children to discuss rights, responsibilities, rules, and fairness are provided by revisiting assessment episodes that relate to these topics.
• Teaching about the environs of the early childhood setting and the history of the local area, if included in the assessment record, enhances the reader’s knowledge in this area.
• Portfolios document children’s belonging journeys and suggest possible ways forward for teachers, families, whānau, and children.