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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
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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
When Your Service is Not Meeting Adult-Child Ratio Minimums
Not meeting adult:child ratios.
There are various ways that adult-child ratios can become a problem.
For example, does your manager or boss tell you that it is okay to go under ratio and not replace you when you go on morning-tea breaks and on other occasions provided you are still in the building or on the grounds?
Ratios
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
What is Research? Methodological Practices and New Approaches
What is Research? Methodological Practices and New Approaches by Jeanette Rhedding-Jones.
What is Research? Articulating a clear-cut answer to this question that everyone will agree on is just not possible.
As Jeanette Rhedding-Jones shows in her splendidly plain-spoken book by addressing this question one becomes aware that there is so muc
Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement
Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement. By Bronwyn Norman.
Bursting out in the beautiful sunny Autumn/Ngahuru afternoon our tamariki were ready to embrace their environment and interact with each other by choosing materials and playing games.
Fuelled by eating a healthy afternoon tea their bodies were ready to move. Tamariki were walking, ru
Service Provider Member Posts
Values-based Interviewing as Part of the Staff Safety Check
Values-based Interviewing.
It is usual to conduct a formal interview with potential job applicants and to cover skills, experience and knowledge during the interview. This ‘technical’ interview is important to ensure that the applicant has the skills, competencies and knowledge to meet the job description and person specifications.
F
Charging Parents for Late Pick-ups and Early Drop-offs
Late Fee.
Should you charge a late fee for late collection of children? Or charge the parents of children who arrive early?
Some early childhood services ‘fine’ parents to try to deter them from leaving their child outside of hours that are booked. Other services charge late and early drop-off fees to generate extra reven
Safeguarding Children from Abuse in Childcare
Safeguarding Children from Abuse.
Does your early childhood service have a whistle-blowing policy? Having a whistle-blowing policy can help to give confidence in the safety of an early childhood setting and keep it safe for children.
Furthermore, there are some additional ways to ensure a service is a safe place from abuse for children.
Sick Leave Entitlement and Staff Faking Sickness or Taking Unscheduled Time Off
A minimum of 10 days per year for employers with an employer for 6 months or more is claimable. Employers may offer more than 10 days and many in the early childhood sector do. Employees can carry over 10 days of unused sick leave into the new year, and employers can choose to let employees carry over more.
But, how should you respond and wha
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Early Childhood Educators’ Workplace Well-being
Catherine Jones, Fay Hadley, Manjula Waniganayake and Melissa Johnstone. Macquarie University, New South Wales.
Full reference:Jones, C., Hadley, F., Waniganayake, M. & Johnstone, M. (2019). Early childhood educators’ workplace well-being: A case for using self-determination theory to understand and support workplace well-being in earl
Talking with Children in Prams and Supermarket Trolleys While Shopping
Abstract:
Children’s language development is influenced by the amount and quality of interactions that they are immersed in. This study investigated the parent-child interactions that occur when parents accompany young children in prams while moving between shops. Overall, minimal levels of interaction were observed between p
The Relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care and English Proficiency at School Entry for Bilingual Children in Australia
The Relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care and English Proficiency at School Entry for Bilingual Children in Australia.
Meredith O’Connor1,2, Elodie J. O’Connor1, Amanda Kvalsvig1 and Sharon Goldfeld1,21. Royal Children’s Hospital, Victoria, Australia2. University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Full Reference: O’Co
Shared Cultural Responsiveness Teaching Strategies for Early Childhood Educators: Insights from Japanese and Australian Researchers
Full reference: Ba Akhlagh. S. and Yamada, M. (2025). Shared cultural responsiveness teaching strategies for early childhood educators: Insights from Japanese and Australian researchers. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 17-30.
Login to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT:
The global movement of migrants and refugees presents significant challenges for host countries, particularly in providing equitable and inclusive education for children. Nations such as Australia and Japan have become safe destinations, yet the extent to which they are prepared to facilitate culturally responsive early childhood education varies. This paper presents research-based strategies, developed by two researchers in Australia and Japan, that have proven to be practical and helpful for educators, supporting children from cultural and linguistic diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Australia. These strategies, currently offered to educators in Australia, are planned for implementation among Japanese early childhood educators from 2026. Drawing on shared expertise from both countries, the approach fosters mutual learning and adaptation, aiming to inspire educators worldwide to contextualise and apply these evidence-informed practices within their own early childhood education settings.
Key words: Cultural responsiveness, educators, cross-cultural early childhood education teaching strategies, professional learning.
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