NZCER 2001 conference programme
An emerging influence in early childhood education policy development and practice is a focus on the rights and perspective of the child.
This conference will enable participants to explore the role of early childhood services in fostering competent children, active in their own contribution to society, engaged in settings that are inclusive of all children and their families.
An emphasis will be on the implications for policy, practice, and research, considered alongside the long-term strategic plan for early childhood education.
Date: 26 October 2001
Venue: Quality Hotel, 355 Willis Street, Wellington, New Zealand
The programme
Registration: 8.15 am
Welcome: 8.45 am
SESSION 1
9.00 am - 9.40 am
Why quality matters in early childhood education: the research evidence
Cathy Wylie
Longitudinal research findings from New Zealand and overseas show that early childhood education quality has enduring associations with positive outcomes for children. This paper gives an overview of the main findings from the Competent Children project to date, and other recent research, looks at why some aspects of quality matter more than others, and explores the implications for early childhood education practice and policy.
If we only knew. . . . Contextualising Mäori knowledge
Wally Penetito
Early teacher socialisation tells teachers how important it is to begin where children are and build on that prior knowledge. Wally Penetito looks at the sorts of local knowledge that could be made available in learning institutions and processes for establishing contexts meaningful for Mäori.
Question time follows.
MORNING TEA: 10.30 am - 11.00 am
SESSION 2
11.00 am - 11.40 am
Ready willing and able to learn: what might that mean?
Margaret Carr
This presentation will draw on stories from early childhood settings to illustrate ways in which assessment practices can enhance children's social identities as learners who are 'ready willing and able to learn': with an emphasis on learning communities and 'being willing'.
Back to the future - young children constructing and reconstructing 'White' Australia
Glenda MacNaughton
Australian research that highlights the impact of 'Whiteness' on young children's identity construction will be used to explore the implications of 'White' Australia's past for living and growing democracy now and in the future in and through early childhood education.
Question time follows.
LUNCH: 12.30 pm - 1.30 pm
Hon. Trevor Mallard, Minister of Education 1.30 pm - 2.00 pm
GROUP SESSIONS
2.00 pm - 3.00 pm
Participants will break into groups to consider issues and implications arising from the day for policy, practice, and research.
AFTERNOON TEA: 3.00 pm - 3.30 pm
3.30 pm - 4.10 pm
Early childhood education - a child's right?
Rosslyn Noonan
Rosslyn Noonan will consider a child's entitlement to participate in early childhood education and the role of the state in the context of children's rights and international practice.
DRINKS 4.15 pm
The presenters
Dr Cathy Wylie is a Chief Researcher at NZCER, and the leader of the Competent Children project, which focuses on the roles of early childhood education, school, and home experiences and resources in children's development. Her other research includes work on the impact of changes in early childhood education and school sector policies.
Wally Penetito is of Tainui descent (Ngäti Haua, Ngäti Tamaterä, Ngäti Raukawa). He is a senior lecturer in education at Victoria University with research interests in Mäori education, the sociology of education, and teacher education. He has studied at Massey, London, Waikato, and Victoria universities.
Dr Margaret Carr is an Associate Professor with the Department of Early Childhood Studies at the University of Waikato. She was a co-director of the national Early Childhood Curriculum Development project that developed Te Whäriki, and has since then completed a Ministry research project and a professional development video and workshop package for practitioners on Assessing Children's Experiences in Early Childhood. That project developed A 'Learning Story' framework for assessment. A book by Margaret on Learning Stories was published this year by Paul Chapman in London.
Dr Glenda MacNaughton is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, where she is establishing the Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood. Her two most recently published books explore approaches to rethinking gender in early childhood and to research in early childhood.
Rosslyn Noonan is Chief Human Rights Commissioner and a long-term advocate for quality early childhood care and education services. | 
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