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The journal is indexed in Scopus and available internationally through Informit, as well as through New Zealand tertiary libraries and many university libraries internationally.
This review cuts through political spin to reveal what the strongest evidence actually shows about the effects of ECE. Learn the real benefits and risks of ECE – not the claims, assumptions, or slogans.
Full reference: Tiko, L. (2025). Strengthening policy implementation and system coordination for equitable early childhood development in Fiji. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, 83-96.
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Abstract
This paper critically explores the challenges and opportunities in strengthening policy implementation and system coordination for equitable Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Fiji. It interrogates the effectiveness of the 2024 to 2028 National ECD Policy and the 2025 Pre-Primary Policy, focusing on persistent disparities in resource distribution, professional development, and infrastructure between urban and rural ECE centres. The paper highlights fragmented inter-ministerial coordination among the Ministries of Education, Health, and Women and Children, revealing operational silos and inconsistent planning mechanisms. Situated within the broader context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the analysis emphasises the importance of culturally grounded, community-led approaches rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems. The commentary calls for a paradigm shift in ECD policy implementation, one that centres equity, resilience, and local agency to build inclusive and sustainable early childhood systems across Fiji and the Pacific.
Key words: Early Childhood Development, Policy Implementation, System Coordination.
Full reference: Maxwell, A., Hohaia-Rollinson, F, and Woolston, D. (2025). Moving beyond the environment towards a multi-pillared approach: Early childhood teachers understanding and practices of education for sustainability in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 69-82.
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ABSTRACT: The future health, wellbeing and sustainability of our planet and those living upon it is in urgent need of transformational change. Early childhood education (ECE) settings in Aotearoa New Zealand are an important part of the national education infrastructure that can be transformational in bringing about this change. The early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017), provides an important bicultural and sociocultural framework that can support ECE settings increase the national consciousness when education for sustainability (EfS) knowledge, understanding and pedagogies are embedded in everyday practice and apply a place-based education approach. This article shares findings from a research project that investigated ECE teachers’ current understandings and practices of EfS in Aotearoa New Zealand and the influence of local community and context on EfS practices. The results discussed in this article contributes to the EfS discourse and critical global conversations in relation to EfS to facilitate with more urgency transformational change.
Key words: Education for sustainability (EfS), localised curriculum, environmental education (EE), kaitiakitanga/guardianship, pillars of sustainability, place-based education.
Full reference: McAnelly, K., Purdue, K., Hall, L.J., Odom, S.L., & Hall, E. (2025). We’re all in this together: Approaches to inclusive early childhood education for disabled children in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States, and what we can learn from one another. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 1-16.
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ABSTRACT:
Research from Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States continues to explore disabled children’s right to an inclusive early childhood education (ECE). In this article we examine ECE provision, key legislation and policy, and research on inclusion in our two countries. We also look at how initial teacher education and professional learning and development programmes help to strengthen inclusive practice in our respective countries. There is a lot that each country can draw on and learn from the other in relation to supporting disabled children’s inclusion in ECE. Drawing on insights from our cross-country comparisons, we offer recommendations aimed at amplifying disabled children’s rights to inclusive ECE.
Key words: Disability, inclusion, children’s rights, teacher education, cross-country comparison.
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.
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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.
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