- Title
- Early childhood education and care in Aotearoa/New Zealand: History and features
- Creator
- Tyler-Merrick, Gaye; Phillips, Joanna; McLachlan, Claire; McLaughlin, Tara; Aspden, Karyn; Cherrington, Sue
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Text; Book chapter
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/170809
- Identifier
- vital:14204
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203730553
- Identifier
- ISBN:9780203730553
- Abstract
- Since the 1990s, New Zealand/Aotearoa has been a leader in providing quality early childhood education (ECE) for children/tamariki and their families/whānau. ECE represents a diverse set of services for children under the age of five. A unique feature of the New Zealand system is the integration of education and care for young children, under the Ministry of Education. Services are licensed as teacher-, whānau- or parent-led, and may be located in centre, community or home settings. A diversity of philosophical approaches to ECE are evident, including services specifically focused on promoting Māori and Pasifika languages and cultures. Recent trends towards increased private, including corporate, ownership and reductions in services offering half-day programmes are also evident. The system is nationally regulated and is monitored and publicly reported by the Education Review Office. The early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki: He Whariki Matauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education, 1996), is holistic, culturally responsive and inclusive of all children and their families. However, there has been no formal evaluation of this curriculum, but recent critique of this document in relation to how equipped teachers and centres are to implement this holistic, competence-based curriculum has been undertaken. Very recently, the Ministry of Education called for an update of Te Whāriki. This chapter will critique the ‘old’ and ‘new’ curriculum in light of the framework, curriculum goals and the cultural gains and restraints the curriculum places on New Zealand parents, teachers and children. Implications for practice and for future research will be explored.
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Relation
- International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care: Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century Chapter 12 p. 127-142
- Rights
- Copyright Taylor and Francis
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Education; New Zealand education
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