Early childhood education Centres of Innovation (COIs) were announced in 2002 as part of the 10-year plan for early childhood education, Pathways to the Future/Ngä Huarahi Arataki. Their research and dissemination has been exploring innovative teaching and learning in New Zealand in order to promote reflection amongst education professionals, and to inspire others to enjoy the thrill of  "cresting the waves", as they transform their practice through participatory action research.

Centres of Innovation are now producing research findings.  In this publication, writers from Round One COIs tell how they extended understanding of Te Whäriki curriculum and pedagogy in their centres.  Their action research projects illuminated existing and developing theory in their practice, and filled some gaps in research knowledge.

The COIs share some key findings drawn from their full research reports. The findings relate te reo Mäori development in a köhanga reo, quality practices in a Pasifika immersion centre and a bilingual kindergarten, the integration of ICT into a kindergarten curriculum, and the characteristics of being effective "communities of learners" in a range of early childhood education settings.