Early Childhood Folio vol. 21 no. 1 (2017)

A tribute to Professor Anne B. Smith,  a lifelong advocate for children who was at the forefront of the children's rights movement for several decades.

Helen May's author profile

In 2015/16 Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa (ACYA) prepared, produced and presented New Zealand’s fifth civil society, non-government organisations’ Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child on how well Aotearoa New Zealand complies with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article describes the reporting cycle and uses ACYA’s reports to illustrate how successive Governments have consistently breached children’s rights.… Read more

As a non-participant observer of a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) on children’s storytelling. The lead author explored children’s understanding of research involving them, including their rights to consent, assent and dissent to participate. This case study of Timmy’s participation in research shows how Timmy’s researcher sought and affirmed his ongoing right to agree to participate in data gathering, or not.

This article explores the way in which an early childhood community was able to support the active participation of a disabled child. The Huakina Mai model provides a framework that conceptualises the participation of all members in terms of being active, ecological, pedagogical, equitable and inclusive in nature.

This article argues that neoliberal ideology, through policy and governance of children in early childhood settings, has a very strong influence on children in Aotearoa New Zealand. It affects the way they grow up, play, learn, and perform their resistance and agency in the places and space of their education and care. Every hegemonic discourse is challenged by an equally powerful resistance, and every dominant childhood culture, in any ideology, is challenged also by a resistant childhood… Read more

In contemporary early childhood education (ECE) contexts, tuākana/tēina describes the practice of older, more expert children caring, teaching and taking responsibility for those younger or less expert. This article explores the tuākana/tēina  understanding and practices that were evident in a recent Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI)-funded research project, Te Whatu Kete Mātauranga: Weaving Māori and Pasifika Infant and Toddler Theory and Practice in Early Childhood… Read more

Conversation analysis (CA) can be a useful tool for research when investigating toddlers’ social interactions, because it can showcase their capabilities and agency through in-depth analysis of their verbal and non-verbal actions. This article argues that by using CA to analyse the details of toddler conversations within the peer group, we can not only discover the true complexities and social capabilities of toddlers but also find out what is important to them and how we, as early childhood… Read more