Inclusion is not a policy objective; it is a human promise. For too many tamariki, that promise still depends on where they live, what language they speak, or how they learn.
Cultural identity, learning style, and neurodiversity shape how each child experiences early learning, and whether they feel seen, safe, and valued.
The ECE Funding Review (MAG 2025) provides the opportunity to move beyond uniformity and design for diversity. Diversity is not the challenge to overcome; it is the strength to sustain. When inclusion is funded as core business, equity stops being rhetorical and becomes relational.
Inclusion is not about fitting children into systems; it is about shaping systems around children.
1. Engage: Honouring Identity and Whakapapa
Engagement begins with belonging. Te Tiriti o Waitangi defines partnership as foundational to education in Aotearoa. As the Ministry of Education (2025) and the Teaching Council of Aotearoa NZ (2024) note, this partnership must extend beyond curriculum language to decision-making, governance, and leadership.
Māori tamariki should see their culture, reo, and values reflected in their everyday learning, not as an elective but as a right. Likewise, Pacific, Asian, migrant, and refugee whānau deserve culturally responsive services that affirm identity and connection.
Design move: Fund time, PLD, and resources for kaiako to engage in cultural partnership, te reo Māori learning, and whānau collaboration.
2. Enable: Funding Pedagogical and Philosophical Diversity
Diverse philosophies such as Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Te Whāriki, nature-based, bilingual, and kaupapa Māori approaches each offer unique pathways for learning and belonging. However, current funding models often favour uniform delivery and penalise variation.
OECD (2021) identifies pedagogical diversity as a hallmark of resilient education systems. The Funding Review should ensure funding formulas recognise the additional costs of resourcing bilingual, immersion, and alternative pedagogies. Diversity of philosophy is a public good — it provides families with authentic choice and maintains cultural integrity.
Funding must make diversity visible, not optional.
3. Empower: Neuroaffirmative and Inclusive Practice
Neurodiversity is part of human diversity. Research from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child (2016) and Te Whatu Ora (2023) shows that stable, predictable, and affirming environments support the developing brain, especially for neurodivergent or traumatised children.
ECE services need funding for inclusion coordinators (SENCOs), sensory-friendly design, and PLD on neurodiversity and trauma-informed care. Universal inclusion funding would reduce the need for families to fight for individual support. When inclusion is systemised, teachers can spend time teaching, not navigating bureaucracy.
Policy move: Introduce baseline inclusion funding for every licensed service, with tiered top-ups for complexity and additional needs.
4. Evolve: Embedding Whānau Voice and Future Readiness
Inclusive systems evolve by listening. Whānau voice, co-governance, and partnership must be embedded at the governance level, not added as consultation. The Funding Review can create mechanisms for community decision-making about resource allocation, ensuring responsiveness to local needs.
The Ministry of Education (2024) emphasises that whānau involvement correlates with higher engagement and wellbeing outcomes for children. Funding must therefore include paid time for relationship building and shared planning with whānau.
When whānau lead, inclusion lasts.
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Closing Reflection
Every child deserves to walk into a space that feels like it was made for them. Inclusion, when funded properly, becomes the architecture of excellence. The 2025 Funding Review is our chance to ensure that cultural, pedagogical, and neurodiverse inclusion are not extras. They are the system.
Diversity is not what complicates quality; it is what completes it.
Reflection Prompts
- How does your service reflect the cultural and philosophical diversity of your whānau?
- What barriers exist for neurodivergent or disabled children and their families in your community?
- How can funding evolve to embed inclusion as a design principle across every level of ECE?
Inline References
- Ministry of Education (2025). ECE Funding Review (MAG 2025). education.govt.nz.
- Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (2024). Our Code, Our Standards. nz.
- Ministry of Education (2024). Regulatory Review of Early Childhood Education. education.govt.nz.
- OECD (2021). Starting Strong VI: Supporting Meaningful Access and Quality in ECEC. oecd.org.
- Harvard Center on the Developing Child (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts. developingchild.harvard.edu.
- Te Whatu Ora (2023). Early Years Health and Wellbeing Report. tewhatuora.govt.nz.