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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
Working More Hours than You are Being Paid
Not Being Paid for Hours Worked.
A teacher’s work is never done. This is a phrase that are heard all too often in early childhood education when referring to unpaid work that is done by teachers. It is almost an expectation in some services that teachers spend hours of their own time setting up, cleaning, attending staff meetings, attending w
Can a Male Teacher Be Fired For Not Being ‘Man’ Enough?
An employer asked whether they could dismiss a male teacher simply because he didn’t match their assumptions about what “men” should do in ECE. This article unpacks the issue, shares expert guidance, and offers thoughtful replies to help services understand their obligations and support all teachers well.
Colouring-in Books and Drawing Templates
Colouring-in Books in ECE.
Back in the 80s and 90s the use of colouring-in books was hotly debated amongst early childhood professionals and a consensus developed that drawing templates and colouring-in books were bad for children.
But today, colouring-in books for adults have become fashionable. Such books are promoted as supporting mind
Teaching How to Ride a Bike (a pedal bike)
Every child will learn things in their own time but learning how to ride a bike and using pedals before 5 years of age is a reasonable aspiration for parents and early childhood teachers to have for children.
It is a significant event in life that most of us can remember so it is worth making it a rewarding experience for a child.
The
Service Provider Member Posts
Indoor-Outdoor Spaces and Room Layout
Early Childhood Centre Design Ideas.
We show, with photographs, a different design and approach to using space for supporting small group and project work. The design comes from a bilingual kindergarten, called a ‘Kita’ in Hamburg, Germany.
The photographs were taken, by Sarah Alexander, during a guided tour of the facility for
The ECE Safety Checklist – Daily Hazard and Safety Checklist
The ECE Safety Checklist – A Daily Hazard and Safety Checklist for Every ECE Service. Checklist items include regulation requirements and reflect learnings from tragic incidents that have happened in ECE.
How to Use the Checklist
This checklist is to assist in conducting and recording the daily inspection.
It is more thorough and detaile
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
Job Descriptions
Job description templates for various centre and home-based positions and examples.
Creating an effective job description is an important part of the hiring and employment process.
An appealing job description will attract the best candidates for the job you are advertising and will ensure you have a range of different applicants to choose
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2003, Vol 6
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 6, 2003 are shown below. To view
Advocating Anti-bias Practices in Early Childhood Education
FULL REFERENCE: Harper-Hooper, W. (2025). Advocating anti-bias practices in early childhood education. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 43-55.
ABSTRACT:
This article examines the integration of anti-bias education, multicultural pedagogy, and Social Learning Theory within early childhood education, with a focus on fostering inclusive, equitable, and socially just learning environments. Grounded in the view that bias is socially constructed and learned, anti-bias education offers a critical framework for supporting children’s identity development, empathy, and engagement with diversity from the early years. Informed by Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, the paper explores how young children internalise inclusive values through observation, modelling, and guided interaction. Play-based learning is identified as a developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive approach for embedding these values within everyday practice. Through intentional role-play, storytelling, and collaborative exploration, children are supported to examine difference, challenge stereotypes, and develop inclusive ways of thinking and relating. The paper outlines practical strategies, including inclusive curriculum design, culturally sustaining resources, family and community engagement, and educator reflection, that contribute to equitable learning experiences. It also presents assessment approaches that capture children’s understanding of diversity and inclusion through observation, artefacts, and caregiver input. In the Aotearoa New Zealand context and globally, where increasing diversity and persistent inequities shape the early childhood education landscape, this article underscores the educator’s role as a reflective, relational, and intentional agent of change. It concludes by advocating for ongoing professional learning and collaboration to advance transformative early childhood education practices rooted in equity, belonging, and social justice.
KEY WORDS: Anti-bias education, pedagogy, play-based learning, multicultural education, social learning theory.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
INTRODUCTION
Anti-bias education is a dynamic, intentional pedagogical approach aimed at addressing the systemic roots of prejudice, discrimination, and social inequity. Rather than promoting passive notions of tolerance, it encourages critical reflection, sustained dialogue, and transformative action, all directed toward dismantling structural bias and advancing social justice. At the heart of anti-bias education is the understanding that biases are socially constructed and learned, thus, they can be consciously unlearned through deliberate and reflective educational practices.
Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2020) emphasise the critical role of early childhood education in shaping young children’s developing attitudes toward identity, diversity, and inclusion. When early childhood education environments actively affirm children’s diverse backgrounds and challenge stereotypes, they support the development of positive self-identities and foster empathy and respect for others (Murray & Nakkula, 2021). Embedding anti-bias principles into curriculum design and daily practice enables educators to create inclusive spaces where all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, or socioeconomic status, feel a sense of belonging, affirmation, and agency.
Pedagogical Development in Long Day Care Centres
The results of an investigation into the efficacy of a suite of different learning options for teachers and leaders/ directors intended to improve preschool programme quality.
FULL REFERENCE: McInnes, E., Whitington, V., Colmer, K., Sisson, J. & Scales, M. (2017). A multi-dimensional approach to pedagogical development in long day care centres. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 20(1), 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: Since 2013 Australian Long Day Care Centres have offered universal access to four year olds to a preschool programme for fifteen hours per week, led by a four year early childhood degree qualified teacher. The South Australian Department for Education and Child Development funded research and consultancy to strengthen universal access to preschool programmes in child care centres. This study reports on a project developed by Gowrie SA and the University of South Australia. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to investigate the efficacy of the suite of learning options intended to improve preschool programme quality. The project used an action research approach with multiple learning options offered to directors, teachers and other educators to establish site-based Professional Learning Communities. The University of South Australia investigated the suite of learning options using both qualitative and quantitative data with the aim of determining their efficacy. This paper reports on that investigation. The engagement of directors in pedagogical leadership was found to be vital to creating teamwork and enabling early childhood teachers to work in collaboration with a group of educators. Teachers and directors engaged in critical reflective practices, resulting in curriculum innovations that were integrated into preschool programmes. This paper argues that both centre leadership, and educators’ extended engagement in professional learning communities are central to transforming Long Day Care Centres to become effective providers of universal access to preschool programmes.
Key words: Preschool programmes; leadership; professional learning; action research.
INTRODUCTION
In 2014-15 early childhood professional learning provider, Gowrie SA, and the University of South Australia were funded by the Department for Education and Child Development to develop a capacity-building project to support the implementation of early childhood degree qualified teacher-led preschool programmes in UA settings. This article reports on an evaluation of a multi-faceted strategy to support Long Day Care Centres’ (LDCC) integration of ECTs following the establishment of preschool programmes in these sites. The federal Universal Access (UA) preschool programme funds state education departments to provide all four year olds with access to 15 hours preschool programme, 41 weeks per year, regardless of whether children attend stand-alone preschool sites or long day care centres operated by private or community sector providers. The policy requires that programmes be led by a four year bachelor qualified early childhood teacher (ECT), working with LDCC directors and other Diploma and Certificate qualified educators to implement the preschool programme. In South Australia the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD) has carriage of implementing the UA programme..
Researching Pedagogies for Sustainability in Australian Bush Kinder
FULL REFERENCE: Hughes, F. (2019). Researching pedagogies for sustainability in Australian bush kinder: A reflective analysis on a framework and methodologies. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 22(1), 1-14.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: While there is a growing awareness of the need for children to spend more time in natural settings, the pedagogical link between education for sustainability (EfS) and nature requires further investigation. The assumption that children’s connection with nature equates with EfS is a key issue, as is educators’ understandings of their own pedagogical roles in relation to a nature-sustainability nexus. This article is a reflection on the framework and methodologies used in a doctoral study which explored how the links between nature and sustainability are perceived by early childhood educators in bush kinder settings in Australia, and the implications for their pedagogy. Data was collected over an eight month period where insights into the perceptions of the educators about sustainability and nature pedagogies were gained. Guided by a social constructivist theoretical framework, a methodology based upon Participatory Action Research (PAR), Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Case Study was employed. In particular, PAR and AI are methodologies that supported the educators’ agency in transformative change. Data collection methods included individual interviews, focus groups, educator reflective journals and researcher participant observation field notes. The focus of this paper is to report on an analysis of the study methodology and process of data collection.
Key words: Education for sustainability, nature, bush kinder, PAR, AI, case study, pedagogy
INTRODUCTION
“It’s our ordinary. It’s what we do every day. I know it’s extraordinary when I say ordinary … The essence of everything we do. It wasn’t what we expected it to be. We thought, we are going to go out, just go on an excursion through the gate, and we are going to have a fabulous time. Now it’s different. We have realised the benefits are far outweighing the negatives. That whole idea of critical thinking has made us believe that what we do every day is normal” (Preschool 1).
The framework and methodologies discussed in this paper were implemented in a study in 2016/17 that sought to answer the question: How might an awareness of the nexus between nature and sustainability influence the pedagogies of early childhood educators in bush kinder settings?
The study evolved from my concerns about how slowly the early childhood sector has addressed environmental sustainability issues and the lack of curriculum guidance around Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS). Australian policy requirements for early childhood education (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2017) promote stewardship, respect and care for the environment, but often the ‘romanticised’ sensory, immersion nature discourse is promoted and taken by educators.
This study explored how the links between nature and sustainability are perceived by early childhood educators in bush kinder settings in Australia, and the implications for their pedagogy. Given the newness of the bush kinder approach, it is important for educators to reflect on their pedagogical roles in nature settings. As there has been little research into Early Childhood Education (ECE) pedagogy in outdoor nature settings in Australia and specifically its relationship with ECEfS, there is a need to investigate this gap. With the rapid growth of Australian bush kinder programs, I propose that the time is right to question whether Education for Sustainability (EfS) is being implemented, or are educators assuming that connections with nature are sufficient to develop strong approaches to EfS and subsequently convey this to children. The focus of this paper is an analysis of the study methodology and process of data collection in investigating this issue.
Contextualising the study
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