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Welcome to the Office of Early Childhood Education
The OECE is a national organisation for the ECE sector and public adviser, championing high-quality education and care 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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Teacher Member Posts
Boys Educational Underachievement
This article looks at arguments around boys and educational underachievement and proposes that early childhood teachers should take education to where the boys are at. UK education expert Tim Kahn, gives an example of how an early childhood teacher put aside her initial feeling to forbid boys from following their play interest and en
Running a Transition to School Programme
The strands in the early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki underpin the objective of providing a base for children to be able to build on their learning and become confident and competent in school. The New Zealand Curriculum explains that supporting of the transition process from early childhood requires fostering of a child’s relationships within their social environment, building and recognising all their experiences and collaborating with family and whanau.
Multiple factors affect a child’s transition from early childhood to school, and some of the main factors are:
– Whether there is a collaborative approach and effective communication between school, early childhood service and the family during the transition process;
– Early childhood and primary teachers understanding of both the early childhood and the NZ schools curricula;
– Children’s understanding of the different curriculum of the school, and the school’s social and physical environment; and
– Children’s preparedness for the academic challenges of the school curriculum.
I’ll discuss each of these factors and share examples with you.
Teachers have different approaches to managing the transition processes.
As early childhood teachers, we need to understand that each child develops differently; hence we need to adapt the pace of the transition programme accordingly.
What’s all the Fuss About Playdough?
Playing with playdough is an everyday occurrence at many ECE services, but the humble activity is subject to frequent debate with suggestions that playdough and other food based play ideas are culturally insensitive.
The debate is not new – it is revived every few years and has been around for at least the past 30 years.
One debate was
The Education of Young Gifted Children and Resource Issues
Gifted Children Identification and Resource Issues. Research Report by Valerie Margrain & Sarah Alexander.
An online survey was conducted on the education of young gifted children. The purpose of the survey was to gather information and sector views to help inform policy and practices for young gifted children and those who work with them.
Service Provider Member Posts
Working Smarter, Not Harder for Best Practice
The group is in the midst of the strange ritual known as ‘The Staff Meeting’. In this gathering, the leader communicates to the group, the tasks to be achieved, assigns duties and informs them of new requirements, rules and expectations.
An important part of the ritual is the response from the group, to the leader’s communications. Sometimes this is given at the time, whilst other groups wait until the leader has gone to utter the loud and anguished cry, “Aaaaaaargh!#$%! Not another thing to do!” Following this, they get on and do as requested.
Working in ECE we are very familiar with change and new expectations. We’re a very adaptive species. However, we have a tendency to just add on the new task, rather than look to see how it can be incorporated with existing tasks – or even replace some of them.
This paper is about working more effectively, rather than behaving like pack-horses and adding more burdens as they plod onwards, up the hill.
Electrical Testing
The importance of electrical testing.
Is your early childhood education service compliant for electrical safety? It needs to be:
Failure of electrical wiring or appliances is one of the most common causes of house and building fires – which could be devastating financially for your service, personally for everyone affected, and eve
Successful Networking
Networking in Early Childhood Education.
Ever felt nervous getting in touch with someone in an important position, or in a room full of people knowing that you are unable to say anything or not knowing what to say?
Successful networking is an essential key to getting ahead and staying ahead.
This article covers:
what networking ispr
Creating Financial Reserves
ECE Service Financial Reserves.
The Ministry of Education does not mind if a service builds up financial reserves. It will not affect funding. Non-profit services can however face a dilemma – should they be spend the money earnt or build up wealth? But note that community-based services are in a less strong position compared with compa
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Supporting Parents to Use Schema Theory to Understand and Manage Challenging Behaviour in the Home
Research on how teachers can share schema theory with parents for managing the challenging behaviour of children with special needs and with disabilities. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Children’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction as Curriculum
Children’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction as Curriculum.
Dian Fikriani* and Jane Bone** * Gadjah Mada University Indonesia. **Monash University Australia.
Full Reference: Fikriani, D. & Bone, J. (2014). Children’s participation in disaster risk reduction as curriculum. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Spec
Exploring Early Childhood Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Emergent Literacy
Research on how NZ early childhood teachers encourage children’s literacy and raise achievement in literacy. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Removing Socio-Economic Barriers to Participation in Early Childhood Education
This paper reviews policy approaches to increase the participation of children from low socio-economic families in quality early childhood education. Problems are identified with current policy approaches and an equitable way forward is proposed. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
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