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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
School Starting Age – Evidence and Arguments
The Best Age to Start School. By Dr Sarah Alexander.
In New Zealand nearly all children have their first full day at primary school on or very close to their 5th birthday. This is a social custom as it is not a legal requirement for families to enrol their child until 6 years of age. Parents have a choice to continue their child in early ch
ICT Digital Technology Use in ECE and Questions
ICT in Early Childhood Education: Questions, Issues and Planning Considerations.
Technology is part of every child’s life and at some point, children are almost certain to want to use and may get hooked on technology – a phone, iPad, or digital camera.
While there are some that would say pre-school years are too early to be introd
Pikler and Gerber Theories in Practice
A close look at how well the theories of Pikler and Gerber can be merged with Te Whariki and the models of infant care and education in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Concepts such as ‘self-soothing’ (allowing babies to settle by themselves) and leaving babies to develop in their own time rather than pushing them to meet milestones cause much debate among parents and early childhood educators.
These debates include such things as whether babies should be allowed to cry it out and whether parents or educators should help children to achieve milestones such as sitting by propping them up.
One proponent of allowing a child to develop at their own pace is Emmi Pikler, a Hungarian paediatrician who worked with children aged from birth to six in her role as Director of the Loczy Orphanage from 1946 until her death in 1979.
Pikler believed that infants’ emotional well-being was paramount, and she restructured then entire staff to ensure that all those working at the orphanage not only met the children’s physical needs, but also would ‘love’ these unwanted children and attend to them with consistent and thoughtful care.
Transforming an Old Woodwork Table
I am James Lochead-MacMillan and I’m going to share with you our review and evaluation of the woodwork table and children’s use, and what we did to bring about improvement
Review and evaluation of woodwork
The hammers had seen better days, the saws were rusty, the screwdrivers were AWOL, the vices and the drills were all broken. The work benc
Service Provider Member Posts
ECE Employer Guide to Employing and Managing Staff
The ECE Employer Guide is for all managers and persons who employ or are involved in the recruitment and employment of staff. It is a comprehensive resource with detailed information on employment matters as well as on managing your team.
Flooding
Flooding – what to do and what not to do when there is flooding or a threat of flooding.
Be prepared for floods to occur wherever you are located, but particularly if located in a low-lying area, near the coast, rivers and water, or downstream from a dam.
If sustained and hard rain follows a period of drought, flooding can occur as the grou
Fostering Teamwork
Good teamwork is vital. When most teachers/ educators are asked who the most important people in an early childhood service are, they will answer, “The Children”.
Children are the ultimate reason that teachers have chosen a career in early childhood education and probably the main reason why you got involved in the sector. It is, however,
Daylight Saving is here – what you need to know to support tamariki over this period
Losing an hour of sleep can be hard on your body clock.
So it’s no surprise that young children can seem particularly grumpy and out of sorts at the start of the daylight saving period.
In Aotearoa, daylight saving begins on the last Sunday of September, when 2am becomes 3am.
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
The NZ Early Childhood Literacy Handbook by Judy Hamer & Paul Adams
Hamer and Adams have skilfully weaved the latest research and theory with the current political and social context to present proposals for best literacy practices and a huge range of practical literacy based ideas.
Early Childhood Education: Fracture Lines of Social Context and Neural Development
Early childhood education: Fracture lines of social context and neural development.
John A. Clark. Massey University, NZ.
Full reference: Clark, J.A. (2015). Early childhood education: Fracture lines of social context and neural development. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 18, 80 – 86.
Critical Review Paper
Supporting Preschool age Children’s Wellbeing through Home-based Literacy Development
Research on supporting young children’s literacy development in their home languages and transgenerational cross-cultural learning. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
“A City Possessed”: The Christchurch Civic Creche Case by Lynley Hood
No other case of child abuse in New Zealand’s history has held public attention so strongly and for so long as the Christchurch Civic Creche case. Lynley Hood persisted, despite legal and other pressures, to get to the bottom of the case.
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