This qualitative case study research explored children’s social disputes in one New Zealand kindergarten. The disputes typically related to the possession of resources and space. “First possession” was found to be significant, hence the name of this article. The notion that children have to experience “possession” and “ownership” to learn ...

The quality of early childhood education and care fundamentally depends on teachers’ wise practice. However, the environments in which that education and care occur can influence, inform, and shape teachers’ practice, and children’s and families’ experiences. This article draws on a written “portrait” of the learning environment created at one ...

The Emmett Street infant and toddler centre closed in 2017. This portrait was written by Katrina McChesney to celebrate and preserve our collective memories of that space. It was presented as a gift to the Greerton Early Learning Centre community and has now been shared, at the request of the ...

Early childhood teachers enact a relationship-based pedagogy in contexts requiring their consistent emotional labour, not just with children but also with their families. Leaders have additional responsibilities for the wellbeing of teaching teams, meeting the expectations of those in governance roles, and accountabilities to agencies such as the Ministry of ...

People, places and things: Implications for New Zealand’s strategic plan for early learning

Early Childhood Folio is seeking articles for this special issue. It follows the University of Waikato Early Years Research Centre annual teachers’ conference of the same name, and the publication of the government’s draft strategic plan for ...

This article emphasises some of the shifts highlighted by the Ministry of Education in the refreshed Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa—Early Childhood Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) (Te Whāriki 2017). Some of those shifts include the ideas of Te Whāriki 2017 being a ...

This article considers the potential of the recently “refreshed” Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, focusing on how the document responds to three serious concerns: the ongoing challenges of honouring the commitments to Māori made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi; the more recent issue of superdiversity; and the ...

Teachers’ pedagogical knowledge is often evident in mantra-like phrases that act as shortcut explanations for professional actions, or as principles of practice. Five key mantras for good practice in infant and toddler settings, accumulated from theory and research, are discussed to unpack pedagogical imperatives in Te Whāriki 2017 and articulate ...

Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki includes the explanation that “A weaver weaves in new strands of harakeke or pandanus as their whāriki expands…” (Ministry of Education, 2017, inside cover). The joining of new material to the whāriki symbolises new learning. This metaphor of a continued weaving offers ...

The revised version of Te Whāriki (2017) acknowledges children’s rights to exercise some agency in their own lives. This article responds by drawing on the author’s research in four spatially diverse early childhood education centres to consider how built environments can influence children’s agency. It argues that spatial complexity creates ...