This submission responds to the Committee’s invitation to provide views
Every morning I would feel overwhelmed by the noise level
Dr Sarah Alexander warns systemic failures in New Zealand’s early
Who is Who and Does What in Relation to the
“Our male teacher is not what we expected when we employed him. Can we fire him?
“He provides nothing particularly male that is different to our female staff. He’s not interested in doing carpentry and construction with the children. His interests are in music, creative play and cooking. He said he wasn’t interested in doing any main
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Shrove Tuesday marks the day before Lent in many Christian traditions and is often celebrated with pancakes — a fun, food‑based way to explore culture, seasons, and family customs with young children. This article explains the origins and meaning of Shrove Tuesday in simple terms for ECE settings, and offers practical, child‑friendly ideas for celebrating, from safe pancake‑making and tasting activities to stories, songs, and inclusive extensions that honour diverse family beliefs.
Beyond Regulatory Standards and Expectations to Building Quality.
There seems to be so much to do in trying to provide a quality service, does there not?
Is all your work worth it or could a change in focus and method achieve better results?
To help you to think critically on this consider the following:
Who defines what quality is? A
Solo fathers are an ‘invisible’ group in society, although Census data suggests they make up almost 5% of families in New Zealand. No research other than a review of Census data in 1999 has been done on this family type in New Zealand, and there is also very little published research overseas, especially where it includes young children. This i
Child Obesity and Childcare. Canadian Research into Child Obesity and Childcare Effects When parents are busy with work or other things and rely on others
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.
Child Supervision Skills. By Dr Sarah Alexander. Supervision is key for child safety Active supervision does not mean just sitting or being in the same
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