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Welcome to the Office of Early Childhood Education
National and public adviser on ECE, the OECE is a sector body representing teachers and all types of licensed services driving safer, higher‑quality education for every child
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- Provides membership support to ECE services, teachers, researchers, and community partners
- Actively contributes to sector analysis, research, and policy development
- Advances evidence-based best practices that prioritise children’s interests and wellbeing
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Teacher Member Posts
Children with Coughs and Colds
Coughs and Colds – Administration of Medicine and Communication with Parents about Best / Safe Practices.
Health authorities warn against the use of cough and cold medicines for children under the age of 6 years- except for those containing only bromhexine or intra-nasal decongestants (such as oxymetazoline and xylometazoline) and the
Seven Tips to Ease Back into Work After the Holidays
Going Back to Work.
Here are 7 of the best tips for easing back to work after a holiday or other break away – smoothing the transition for children and others around you.
Tip 1: Don’t worry, be happy
Children need to see their teachers and carers relaxed, positive and cheerful at the start of a new day and especially at the star
Are Marbles Really Allowed in ECE Centres and Homebased?
Marbles and other small objects might seem harmless, but in ECE settings they can quickly become a serious choking hazard. We explain what the regulations actually require and give you clear indicators to help you manage these risks confidently and keep children safe.
Mums Expressing Breastmilk and Managing Other People’s Reactions
Mums Expressing Breastmilk in ECE. By Dr Sarah Alexander.
Early childhood services can be places that support breastfeeding, and the attitude of staff and teachers and what they do makes a big difference as to whether a mother continues with breastfeeding.
Often there is not time enough time to discuss questions such what to do if anothe
Service Provider Member Posts
Emergency Management Policy, Procedures, and Supplies
Here is a sample emergency management policy template, covering different emergencies such as fire, flooding, terrorist or armed offender, and natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and tsunamis.
We also show you what you might put in a sample emergency plan, emergency procedures (including drills), and an emergency sup
Annual Holiday Leave Use
Unused holiday leave. We have a teacher who chose to take carry over her leave from last year to this year. Does she need to use up all of this leave before the end of the year or can she roll it over to next year? We would prefer she take the time this year before Christmas.Service provider.
All employees: part time, full time, fixed
Job Description for a Head Teacher, Room Leader, or Home-based Visiting Teacher
Job Description for a Head Teacher, Room Leader, or Home-based Visiting Teacher.
Here is a template to help guide you in preparing a job description that matches your service’s philosophy and reflects the position. This person will have additional responsibilities compared with other qualified and unqualified staff and educators.
If you wou
Making a Complaint, the Complaints Process, Steps and Your Rights
Licensed early childhood services must meet minimum legal standards and are expected to exceed these and operate transparently. Complaints are an essential part of keeping children safe, healthy, improving quality, and ensuring accountability.
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
How to Search and Find Readings on Early Childhood Topics
Researching for Information on a Particular Topic.
We receive requests from many people seeking to know what research is available on a particular topic.
First do a thorough word and article search of our website.
Take a look at all the articles published in the NZ-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal
Then check
Brooke’s Day: One Child’s Experience in ECE
What is a child’s everyday experience of attending a fulltime early childhood education and care centre? This case study focuses upon one child’s experience within a centre in New Zealand and proposes that meaningful learning can occur when a child attends an early childcare programme. The methods used to gather data were videotaping, an observ
Play and the Professional Early Childhood Teacher: A Personal Reflection
FULL REFERENCE: Stover, S. (2014). Play and the professional early childhood teacher: A personal reflection. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special Issue: Early Childhood Policy, 17, 89-100.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: This article draws together some reflections on play and educationalisation in the historic context of the contemporary professionalism of early childhood. Looking historically, I suggest that both play and education are issues whose visibility and vitality seem to reflect social and political drivers. I also consider what a review of Te Whāriki could include with the inclusion of greater emphasis on learning through play. So it is worthwhile to consider how play and professionalism have been – and perhaps still are – tools of larger reform projects.
KEY WORDS: Play; history, learning through play; early childhood education; policy; professionalism; curriculum.
INTRODUCTION
There is more than a little danger in holding onto an idea. The willingness to innovate, to be creative, to consider critically – these all niggle away at the value in holding firm to an idea. This has been one of my dilemmas as an academic in early childhood education. A child may still build sand castles or dig a tunnel; but whereas it might be understood in the 1950s or the 1980s as ‘playing’, today it is likely to be interpreted as ‘educational’. So should I let go of the primacy of play in my understanding of how children grow and learn?
I’ve wondered whether play has become problematic because of the educationalisation of early childhood (Stover, 2011); play and education can be awkward companions. But also awkward is the relationship between play and the perception of professionalism amongst early childhood teachers. Fromberg (2003) described the professional status of early childhood teachers as a “public relations nightmare” in part because “most exemplary” teachers appeared playful (p. 177).
“It Pushes You Beyond the Boundaries”: The Paradox of Setting Teaching Goals in a Field-based Early Childhood Teacher Education Programme
This paper reports on a section of a research study into the teaching practice experiences of early childhood student teachers in a field-based teacher education programme. Goal setting was one of the four research themes of that study and is the focus of this paper. Eleven student teachers were initially interviewed in 2008 with ten of the origina
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