Abstract
This is the first of two papers describing the creation of measurement tools for four Māori constructs of positive child behaviour – tuakiri (secure local Māori identity); whānauranga (acting as a member of a whānau); manawaroa (persisting despite difficulty); and piripono (having integrity, commitment and responsibility). This paper describes the psychometric properties of these new measures. Parents and teachers completed questionnaires on 28 children aged 0-5 years five times over 10 months in a Māori-medium early years setting, and video observations were made. Ratings of the videos showed good inter-rater reliability. All questionnaire measures had good internal consistency. Associations of questionnaires with rated observations varied at some timepoints suggesting a need to include both in ongoing research. This study provides initial evidence about reliability of our novel Māori measurement tools for assessment of preschool Māori children.