Tēnā koutou katoa
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
View the Code of Conduct for ECE Services
Get Unrestricted Access to NZ’s Specialist ECE NEWSROOM
National and local stories, expert analysis, commentary, and more.
Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
Free to sign-up and receive
Membership Services and Support for:
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
Supporting Children with Additional Needs
As every child is unique in an early childhood setting, there will be children with additional needs.
These could be physical differences, such as children with cerebral palsy or who are vision or hearing impaired; or it could be less visible conditions such as autism spectrum disorders or behavioural difficulties.
Regardless of the type of
Why Would a Qualified Teacher Want to Do Another Course or Higher Degree?
Studying for a higher qualification. By Melanie Wong.
How many times have you thought you really would like to do something more than what you are doing – but people mock your ambition or it just seems too hard to try?
For early childhood teachers the goal is to gain a diploma or degree in early childhood teaching. Further study be
Ko Tau Rourou Ko Taku Rourou ā Kua Mārama Shared Understandings and Reflection on Wairua
Reflections on Wairua. By Ngaroma Williams and Michelle Anderson with peer-review by Dr Mere Skerrett.
We came to write this article through asking questions, seeking clarification, providing each other examples of our own experiences, and then highlighting what these experiences look like using teaching and learning narrative approaches
Service Provider Member Posts
A Small Privately-Owned Centre Set-Up
Small Privately-Owned Centre. By Marian Ayres Hill.
Setting up, managing and teaching in a small private preschool has many challenges, however it is very rewarding when you see the enormous benefits that a small owner-operated centre brings to children.
This is my story.
I trained as a kindergarten teacher in the 70s and spent 2
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
90-day Trial Period
All employers in New Zealand, no matter their size, are able to use 90-day trial periods. 90-day trials will not affect other aspects of employment relations, such as the requirement to act in good faith. It can be used for any staff – including and not limited to teachers, cleaners, cooks, administrators).
If you wish to put a new staff me
Leadership and Delegating
Delegating as a leader.
A key reason why the workload of a manager or leader can become unreasonable is that they can take on too much!
When a teacher takes on a management role a common mistake is to assume that the job consists of ensuring that they comply with regulatory and licensing requirements, health and safety and financial systems
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Omissions and Presuppositions in Kei Tua o te Pae: A Critical Discourse Analysis
This research note describes some of the findings from an analysis of three introductory booklets of “Kei Tua o te Pae”, an early childhood assessment practice resource produced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Analysis involved taking a critical discourse perspective to identify ways in which text was likely to persuade readers to
Teacher-Child Verbal Interaction in Kindergarten Picture Book Teaching Activities
FULL REFERENCE: Song, J., Li, W. & He, X. (2026). Teacher-child verbal interaction in kindergarten picture book teaching activities. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(1), 39-52.
ABSTRACT: Teacher-child verbal interaction is fundamental to children’s language development and cognitive growth. This mixed-methods study examines the patterns and quality of such interaction during picture book teaching activities in a Chinese kindergarten. Using improved Flanders Interaction Analysis System (iFLAS) and Teacher Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis (T-SEDA), 16 picture book sessions involving four teachers (two novices, two experienced) were analysed across six dimensions. Four key findings emerged. First, interaction remains teacher-dominated: teacher talk accounts for 64.45% of verbal exchanges, and the Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern prevails. Second, teachers show positive emotional support and prefer open-ended questioning, yet higher-order dialogue is limited. Third, pedagogical silence is minimal (0.97%) and child-initiated turns are rare (11.09%). Fourth, four distinct teacher profiles emerged – from “open-exploratory” to “generative-responsive”- revealing significant individual variability in scaffolding practices. These findings suggest that picture book reading can foster children’s agency and cognitive engagement, but this potential is constrained by teacher-directed routines. The study offers recommendations for professional development, emphasising teachers’ role as dialogue facilitators and the need for conditions that support children’s active participation in co-constructing knowledge.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
KEY WORDS: Teacher-child interaction, picture books, teacher talk, oral language, language development, cognitive growth, educational dialogue, iFLAS, T-SEDA.
INTRODUCTION
Language is not merely a tool for cognitive construction but serves as the core medium for children’s social interaction. The World Bank (2021) emphasises that language is vital for children’s subsequent learning, development, and human capital accumulation. This macro-consensus is reflected in global early childhood curriculum frameworks. For instance, New Zealand’s Te Whāriki identifies “Communication” (Mana Reo) as a key pillar, emphasising children’s meaning-making through rich symbolic environments (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2017). Against this backdrop, the picture book with its unique literary genre combining text and imagery provides an ideal vehicle for children to understand the world and experience aesthetic value. Building upon this, picture book reading and discussion activities are validated as a critical pedagogical approach for fostering children’s linguistic competencies in early childhood settings (Noble et al., 2019).
However, the educational value of picture book teaching is highly dependent on the quality of teacher-child verbal interaction. Recent empirical evidence underscores that the strategic use of storybooks as scaffolding tools can significantly enhance the depth of teacher-child dialogue and children’s cognitive engagement (Aktulun et al., 2024). Nevertheless, a persistent gap remains between these pedagogical ideals and actual classroom practice. The prevalent Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern inherently reinforces teacher control by dominating conversational turns and evaluating responses, thereby restricting children’s opportunities for sustained dialogue (Houen et al., 2026). To address these challenges, it is essential to move beyond theoretical advocacy and scrutinise the specificity of classroom practice.
Nuances and Perceptions of Home-based Early Childhood Education
FULL REFERENCE: Davitt, G., Chellapan, L., & Keighron, C. (2025). Nuances and perceptions of home-based early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 56-68.
ABSTRACT: Home-based early childhood education (HBECE) describes a type of early childhood education and care (ECE) that encompasses several widely recognised philosophies and pedagogical practices. Among psychologists, counsellors, therapists, and education professionals, there has been an increasing interest in researching HBECE. The aim of this research was to gain a broader view of the specific context, nuances, and perceptions of HBECE in Aotearoa New Zealand. Four focus group online interviews, with eighteen participants in total were held. The participants were service providers, visiting teachers, educators, and parents. From the interviews we identified benefits, challenges, and the overall perception of HBECE. Benefits focused on the family type environment, relationships, continuity of care, and small group size. Participants spoke of licensing and funding changes, namely: regulatory compliance, funding, and documentation. They perceived HBECE to be undervalued within the wider ECE sector and the community at large.
KEY WORDS: Group size, continuity of care, home-based ECE, personalised learning, flexible childcare.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
INTRODUCTION
Home-based early childhood education (HBECE) is distinct from centre-based early childhood education (ECE). The term “home-based education and care” was first developed in the 1970s to reflect the provision of education and care experiences for children in a familiar home environment. In Aotearoa NZ, HBECE is provided by an educator in their private home for one to four children. According to the Education Research Office (ERO) (2018), a key factor in the success of HBECE is the personalised service it provides.
How to Search and Find Readings on Early Childhood Topics
Researching for Information on a Particular Topic.
We receive requests from many people seeking to know what research is available on a particular topic.
First do a thorough word and article search of our website.
Take a look at all the articles published in the NZ-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal
Then check
What We Do
Resources
