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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
View our positions
- 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
View the Code of Conduct for ECE Services
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Membership Services and Support for:
Teacher Member Posts
Job Interview Preparation and Questions
ECE Job Interview Questions.
If you have been asked to attend an interview then you have been short-listed out of the applications received.
The information below will help you to prepare for the interview and participate in the interview process with confidence.
This article covers:
what checks are likely to be done on you
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Sun Protection Activities for Teaching and Learning to Be Safe in the Sun
Sun Protection Activities On Being Safe in the Sun (songs, art and craft, science, drama etc).
Lots of easy to implement ideas for teaching and learning about sun protection and being safe in the sun are provided in this article. You’ll need to go to another article on our site if you are seeking info on best practices in ECE for pr
All Together Now – Providing Family Learning Sessions
Family learning sessions highlight how much parents shape their children’s development and how early childhood teachers can strengthen that impact by meaningfully engaging families. This article is essential reading for New Zealand ECE teachers because it shows why adopting these approaches can deepen partnerships with parents and enrich learning beyond the ECE setting.
Supporting and Involving Fathers
Early childhood education services in general do not do well when it comes to being inclusive of dads and supporting and involving fathers. Services could be doing better if teachers and service operators knew how.
New Zealand families are gradually changing and men are becoming more involved in raising their children.
However, public reali
Service Provider Member Posts
Food Allergy Management
Food Allergy Management.
Sharing a sweet treat on your birthday is great fun, but in an early childhood setting it can be more complicated than simply working out how many pieces you need to cut the cake into.
If your centre or home-based service has children who have food allergies or intolerances, what seems like some harmless baking coul
Building is Unusable But You Need to Continue Providing Care for Children
ECE Centre Temporary Relocation.
A major earthquake, a fire, or other unplanned event such as gas leak, may mean your early childhood centre building cannot be used.
Parents will continue to need childcare, and you want to continue business but what can you do?
And what arrangements can you make quickly and keep within the law?
Social and Emotional Competence Policy
Promoting Social and Emotional Competence Policy and Procedures.
Rationale:
This policy and accompanying procedures will help us to ensure our curriculum and teaching practice supports the development of children’s social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour in our service.
Regulations and key references:
T
Job Description for a Centre Manager or Home-based Coordinator
Here is a template you can use and adapt for a manager job description – or centre supervisor, or home-based coordinator who is responsible for one group of visiting teachers.
If you would like more guidance and ideas go to the main article about writing JDs.
Service name or Logo
Position description
POSITION/ROLE:
E.g. Manag
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Contents – NZ International Research in ECE Journal, 2019, Vol 22, No. 2
This issue explores the affordability of quality ECE, educator wellbeing, young children’s digital technology use, refugee children’s learning needs, and the role of spirituality in early childhood settings.
Embedding Parents’ Perspectives in the Discourse for Quality Education and Care in the Early Years
FULL REFERENCE: Bailey, E. & Solvason, C. (2019). Embedding parents’ perspectives in the discourse for quality education and care in the early years. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 22(1), pp. 59 – 71.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: he Early Years sector in the UK is gripped by the notion of quality; quality improvements, quality experiences, and better-quality staff in order to build ‘foundations for quality’ (Department for Education, 2012). However, multiple conflicting perspectives exist regarding a definition for quality. This research contributes to this discussion, locating the lived experiences and expectations of parents of young children in registered settings in relation to the existing dynamic discourse for quality.
In this article existing literature is reviewed to ascertain the links between quality and leadership and to explore the value of parent partnership within quality provision. Then by investigating the perspectives of two small samples of parents (one from an online regional parenting discussion board, the other from a small domestic setting) we gain a deeper understanding of how some parents perceive quality Early Childhood Education and Care. Qualitative questionnaires and ‘purposeful conversations’ (Kvale, 1996) are analysed to reach the conclusion that the process of assessing quality is an intuitive one; based upon a sense of familiarity, safety and the emotional well-being of those in the setting.
The empirical data collected contends the need for flexibility in parent partnerships, providing a range of structured opportunities for engagement in discourse, in order to allow for greater inclusivity. It also highlights the importance of professional interactions not becoming tokenistic, as this undermines authentic dialogue and relationships with families.
Key words: Quality, discourse, perspectives, parent partnership, early years provision.
Introduction
The current curriculum in the UK is based upon the acceptance that high quality Early Years (EY) experiences create better outcomes for children (Office for Standards in Education [Ofsted], 2013). Frequently referenced throughout literature, quality has become the goal for EY provision across the western world (Taguma, Litjens & Makowieck, 2012). Despite this, definitions of quality are inconsistent. Reed and Canning (2012) state that it is open to interpretation and subject to variables that influence opinion. But whose opinion is heard? The perspectives of practitioners rarely feature in EY policy, but more specifically, the perspective of parents is absent. This paper focuses upon parental perceptions of quality, using small-scale research to invite parents’ views into the ongoing debate.
Balageur (2004) states that even if there can be no universal definition of quality, there are values so crucial to children’s experiences that they ought to be the foundation of any definition. But crucial for whom? The purpose of this research is to understand better what parents value most for their children, align these with the priorities of practitioners and co-construct a mutual value base to underpin practice. The notion of creating a mutual vision is mirrored throughout the process of this research, by working as a community of practice through sensitive discussion and reflection.
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
Fathers’ Voices: Their Participation in Early Childhood Education
FULL REFERENCE: Tadi, P., Sadeghi, A. & Nejad, A. M. (2022). Fathers’ voices: Their participation in early childhood education. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 24, pp. 46 – 58.
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 explores fathers’ participation in Early Childhood Education (ECE) programmes in New Zealand. It draws on a descriptive study investigating the perceptions of 50 fathers whose children attended ECE centres by utilising the Father Participation Questionnaire (FPQ): father version. Fathers were asked to complete questionnaires that recorded their perceptions of fathers’ participation and asked for their views on the potential areas that might either facilitate or hinder such participation. The results demonstrated that this sample of fathers were aware of their roles and were interested in their children’s educational development and care. The fathers reported that using a common language, including the terms and words that are used in their daily life and work, may further facilitate their participation. Almost all of the fathers considered their inflexibility regarding workload and working hours were barriers to their participation in ECE programmes. The findings also suggest that fathers generally do not believe that teachers’ supporting programmes such as professional development can enhance their ECE participation. The results obtained argue for the continued need to develop awareness, resources, and good practice to enhance fathers’ roles in their children’s educational development in ECE centres. The results are discussed, and the practical implications of the findings are highlighted.
Key words: Fathers’ participation, early childhood education, fathers’ perspectives.
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