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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
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Teacher Member Posts
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques to Help Children Keep Healthy
Teaching Mindfulness to Young Children. by Anna Whitehead.
Mindfulness can be described as the process of being aware.
Sensations, thoughts or feelings are simply experienced for what they are, without judgment.
Why would you be interested as a parent or teacher in mindfulness?
In the past we developed the idea that b
Earthquake Drills, the Turtle Drop and Best Practice
Earthquake Drills and the Turtle Drop
OPINIONBy Warwick Marshall
A big earthquake shakes while you’re in the kitchen at your house. What do you do?
Of course you throw yourself to the floor and drop like a turtle. Yeah right! Adults are known to wait to see if an earthquake is going to get stronger seemingly with
Picky Eaters and Managing Children’s Eating Habits
Picky eaters? Some children may display anxiety and unhealthy eating habits when they begin early childhood education, others may display behaviours at different times that you are wondering if these are normal, and what to say, do and change.
This article covers:
The adult’s role in providing for children’s food preferences and eating b
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
Service Provider Member Posts
Staff Meetings – Agenda and How to Conduct a Meeting
Staff meetings can work really well with the right Agenda and planning. Here’s how to achieve and cover what is important and make sure no meeting is a waste of valuable time.
Scroll to near the end of this page for a sample Agenda and sample planning docs.
There is no specific regulatory requirement to hold staff meetings. But services fi
Ministry of Education Audits: Funding Audit and Record Keeping Audits
The purpose of a visiting audit from the Ministry of Education is to verify that the service is claiming and receiving the correct amount of MoE funding,
It is also to verify that a service is meeting the record keeping requirements for the grants, and to provide advice and assistance to services on record keeping requirements.
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
No-Cost Advertising and Service Promotion
Marketing and Promotion.
Competition from other service providers in your area should not result in your service closing its doors. If you provide a quality service, do your home-work and develop a plan to keep children and attract new families.
The standard marketing and advertising advice is:
1. Develop a plan.
2. Consider c
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Inclusion and equity for teachers with disabilities
FULL REFERENCE: Purdue, K., Griffiths, V., Hall, E., Hartley, D., Hohaia-Rollinson, F., Malcolm, J., Solomon, J., Tate, A. & Williamson-Garner, D. (2024). Barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity for teachers with disabilities in early childhood education: Advancing the conversation in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 26, pp. 30 – 44.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: In April 2023, we initiated a kōrero/conversation about the rights of kaiako/teachers with disabilities in early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa New Zealand. We noted that national research regarding the training and workforce experiences of disabled kaiako/teachers in ECE was limited. Accordingly, we wanted to find out more about what constitutes quality learning, teaching, and workplace environments for disabled kaiako/teachers, what their inclusion and exclusion experiences are, and the implications of these experiences for their rights, sense of belonging, and wellbeing.
We invited disabled kaiako/teachers who were either training and/or working in ECE to share their experiences by completing an open-ended questionnaire delivered online via Survey Monkey. The 56 respondents shared their positive and negative experiences with us. In this article, we share insights gained into the barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in initial teacher education (ITE) and ECE for disabled kaiako/teachers. We also offer some recommendations for the ITE and ECE sector about what needs to be done to ensure an equitable and inclusive teaching sector for this group of kaiako/teachers both now and in the future.
KEY WORDS: Disabled teachers, disability, inclusion, equity.
INTRODUCTION
Over the past three years, our research into kaiako/teacher diversity in early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa New Zealand has explored the extent to which ECE learning and teaching environments are inclusive, culturally safe, and supportive of all kaiako/teachers (Griffiths et al., 2021, 2022, 2023a). Most recently, we have turned our attention to the rights and wellbeing of disabled kaiako/teachers (Griffiths et al., 2023b). The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) states that “persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (United Nations, 2006, p. 4). The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016–2026 (Office for Disability Issues, 2016) defines disability as “something that happens when people with impairments face barriers in society … it is something that happens when the world we live in has been designed by people who assume that everyone is the same” (p. 12). Kaiako/teachers with disabilities currently working towards an early childhood teaching qualification and/or working within the sector can have a wide range of disabilities, including neurodiversity, learning, mental health, physical, sensory, and health.
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal 1998, Vol 1
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 1, 1997/8 are shown below. To view
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.
FULL REFERENCE: Postlewaight, G. (2016). Removing socio-economic barriers to participation in early childhood education: Is current policy in Aotearoa New Zealand effective? NZ Research in ECE Journal, Special Issue: Equality and Diversity, 19, 46 – 60.
ABSTRACT: Positive outcomes for children from low socio-economic families are increased through their participation in quality early childhood education (ECE) programmes (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2011). Present Government policies and initiatives in New Zealand focus predominantly on increasing participation as a long term solution to equitable access to education. Such a one dimensional solution does not address the underlying barriers that hinder participation for children in poverty. Through the examination of current research, aspects of equal importance to access and participation that were central to Pathways to the future: Ngā Huarahi Arataki, a 10-year strategic plan for early childhood education (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2002) are identified and discussed. Specifically, the goals to: “increase participation in quality in ECE services, improve quality of ECE services and promote collaborative relationships” (MoE, 2002, p.3) are considered in relation to past and current policy. This position paper offers for deliberation an alternative cohesive solution to break down the barriers of access to ECE. A holistic, wraparound approach for families in poverty that includes health, well-being and education is presented as an equitable way forward.
Key words: Barriers to participation; equitable outcomes; socio-economic; policy; poverty.
INTRODUCTION
In 2011, the OECD acknowledged a range of affirmative outcomes for children through their involvement in early childhood education (ECE) programmes. They recognised that on-going involvement in quality early childhood education can: enhance children’s well-being, validate them as learners, ensure equitable educational outcomes and lessen the impact of intergenerational poverty.
If early childhood education is indeed a vehicle to lessen the impact of poverty, then the removal of the barriers to accessing quality early childhood education is imperative to help address the issues of child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through the examination of current research, this article addresses some mitigating factors that impact on families who are disadvantaged by their socio-economic circumstances and considers how these impose barriers to early childhood education. The intent and implementation of Pathways to the future: Ngā Huarahi Arataki. A 10-year strategic plan for early childhood education (MoE, 2002) is used as a framework for discussion. Government policies and present approaches to addressing access and inclusion in early childhood education for these families are reviewed, in particular, the effectiveness of the ‘20 hours ECE subsidy’ and ‘equity funding.’ An alternative cohesive strategy to removing the barriers to equitable participation in ECE is offered for deliberation.
Neoliberalism and Post-Colonialism in Conflict: Hybridisation in Early Childhood in the South Pacific
FULL REFERENCE: Sims, M. and Tiko, L. (2019). Neoliberalism and post-colonialism in conflict: Hybridisation in early childhood in the South Pacific. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 22(1), 15-30.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: The colonial history of the South Pacific resulted in generations of South Pacific Island children being educated in what is fundamentally a western system, aiming to prepare them for employment in what is increasingly becoming a western economic environment. In recent years this environment has become strongly influenced by neoliberal ideology which positions children as human capital, the employable citizens of the future. Accompanying this is a growing post-colonial movement which positions Indigenous values and practices as crucially important in shaping the identity of children. Part of this is the process of recognising that Indigenous knowledge has an important place in Indigenous nations. It is in this context that citizens in many previously colonised nations are attempting to develop their own early childhood policies and systems in order to deliver the kind of services and support that will best achieve their vision for the future. In this paper we explore the understandings of early childhood professionals in the South Pacific. These professionals are the leaders, and future leaders whose work will shape the way in which early childhood services develop over the following years. Thus their understandings provide an indication of the ways in which the tensions between western neoliberalism and Indigenous post-colonialism may be enacted in the context of South Pacific nations.
Key words: Indigenous education, leadership, neoliberal ideology, post-colonialism.
Introduction
When missionaries established schools in the Pacific they brought with them the values and practices of their own culture. (Countries in the Pacific include: Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands). Pacific Island children attending these schools quickly learned that the way to ‘succeed’ was to take on the colonisers’ values, practices and ways of life.
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