{"id":6729,"date":"2010-07-02T18:26:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-02T06:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oece.nz\/general\/quality-early-childhood-education-childcare\/government-introduction-of-quality-standards-reactions-and-impact\/"},"modified":"2021-09-04T14:24:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T02:24:20","slug":"government-introduction-of-quality-standards-reactions-and-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oece.nz\/public\/evidence\/research-quality\/government-introduction-of-quality-standards-reactions-and-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"“Purple People-Eater” or Early Childhood Education Quality Assurance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
“Purple People-Eater” or Early Childhood Education Quality Assurance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The early childhood centre charter was thought to be \u201cthe key to improving quality\u201d in services (Meade, 1990, p.7).\u00a0 Teachers and managers were required to share their views and opinions on ways to improve centre quality and consult and involve parents in writing a charter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Handbook was a large purple<\/strong> ring-binder folder containing pages and pages of explanations, guidelines and requirements on how to develop a charter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first paper shown below examines the positives and negatives of charter development at diverse early childhood centres. It was found that for full benefit to be obtained, centres needed more time, less pressure, more advisory and resource support, and greater freedom to examine and articulate in their charters how they defined quality and aimed to provide it. Problems included: <\/p>\n\n\n\n A follow-up of the same centres was carried out in 1993. (See the second paper below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the beginning of 1990 all nine centres had commenced work on areas within the Ministry of Education’s charter guidelines, even on areas that proved to be difficult and highly contentious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charters started to lose credibility early when centres noted that the different education agencies were not always in agreement on what should be in charters. Credibility was further reduced at the end of 1990 when centres learned that the Ministry of Education were yet to approve charters despite centres rushing to complete them by an initial 1 July 1990 deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charter changes came in with a change of government from Labour to National at the end of 1990. These changes nullified the progress centres had started to make in developing policies and practices of higher quality, and consulting with parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of 1993 all nine centres continued to view the charter primarily as a bureaucratic requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n