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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
Implementing Primary Caregiving – Issues
Te Whāriki states that infants in particular should experience “unhurried and calm caregiving practices for feeding, sleeping and nappy changing.”
So despite the barriers for some early childhood services such as large numbers of children and poor adult-child ratios, if you can implement a system of primary caregiving it is a very effectiv
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
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
Indoor Plant and Growing Activities
Children Indoor Plant Growing Activities.
Here are 7 ideas for how to do some fun growing activities and keep children busy. Activities include an onion person, a Humpty Dumpty potato or swede, an egg shell garden, wheat people and more.
Young children will be able to do many of these growing activities themselves – they ju
Service Provider Member Posts
Being Inclusive of LGBT Teachers
Equality and acceptance of LGBT teachers in the New Zealand education system is still far from established.
Discrimination can be subtle, such as whispering the word ‘gay’ so that the children can’t hear, but can also be obvious and inappropriate through direct discrimination and exclusion.
Teachers, and particularly leaders, in early c
Social and Emotional Competence Policy
Promoting Social and Emotional Competence Policy and Procedures.
Rationale:
This policy and accompanying procedures will help us to ensure our curriculum and teaching practice supports the development of children’s social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour in our service.
Regulations and key references:
T
Toddler died following a short distance fall, possibly from an adult-sized chair
The death of 20-month-old Lorenzo was due, in the opinion of the pathologist, to traumatic brain injury following a short distance fall with head impact.
In our opinion the tragedy was avoidable. There were several clear and serious failures in Lorenzo’s care before and after his accident.
We hope that the sector will learn from this tra
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
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Advocating for a Comprehensive Approach to Assessment in New Zealand Early Childhood Education
Advocating for a comprehensive approach to assessment in New Zealand early childhood education.
Qilong Zhang. Waiariki Institute of Technology, NZ.
Full Reference: Zhang, Q. (2015). Advocating for a comprehensive approach to assessment in New Zealand early childhood education. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 18, 67 –
Supporting Teaching Practices to Foster Toddlers’ Emotional Literacy
Research on helping teachers to develop teaching practices to foster toddlers’ emotional learning. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Three-year-old Children’s Visual Art Experiences
Three-year-old Children’s Visual Art Experiences.
Julie Plows. University of Auckland, NZ.
Full reference: Plows, J (2015). Three-year-old children’s visual art experiences. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 18, 37 – 51.
Original Research
Abstract
This art-based study investigated the verbal and
Contents – NZ International Research in ECE Journal, 2018, Vol 21, No. 1
This issue brings together research on children’s physical activity, conflict‑related social development, men’s experiences in early childhood teaching, school‑entry assessment, transitions to school, differing perspectives on quality, and parental and teacher views on school readiness.
What We Do
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