Early childhood education is a critical cultural and social space where children learn to live with and alongside others. Yet the education system in Aotearoa New Zealand is rarely responsive to queer cultures, often rendering them invisible. We claim that risk aversion and discourses of innocence within a heteronormative climate ...

The focus of this article is on the findings emerging from a cross-cultural research project exploring children’s working theories about identity, language, and culture in two diverse early childhood education centres in Christchurch: one Samoan immersion, and the other English-medium. The project team believes that by nurturing children’s identity, language ...

This article presents findings from a study that explored the values and practices of early childhood teachers working with children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds in three early childhood centres in New Zealand. The research aimed to identify effective teaching practice that weaves the cultural capital of families into ...

The engagement of migrant families in early childhood education is a strategy pursued by the Ministry of Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. A growing body of research has explored the realities being experienced by these migrant families. These realities include how families are able to maintain their cultural identities, practices ...

In a period of educational reform that gives much attention to children?s family experiences, gaining an understanding of diverse cultural views of parenting is important. This is especially so for Australia, a multicultural society where the values of diversity, culture, family, and community are all shared in early childhood education ...

In Sweden where approximately one quarter of the children have a migrant background, preschool teachers comply with two seemingly contradictory ideas formulated in the curriculum: national cultural reproduction and intercultural awareness. The article is built on a case study that explores how a newly arrived refugee child in an ethnically ...

All the articles in this edition have implications for inclusive teaching and learning practice. Each suggests some ways to make visible and understand the knowledge residing in families and communities and the use of resources to support inclusive pedagogy ...

Traditional Māori society was founded on belief systems, principles, ideals, and values defined and handed down by ancestors, rather than through a set of laws as is more common in western societies. Whakataukī (proverbs, sayings) were one way Māori used to set down, reinforce and transmit these beliefs and values. Whakataukī can ...

Assessment practice suggested in Te Whāriki, Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, aspires to involve parents in the planning for their child’s learning. The narrative documentation of children’s learning, known as learning stories, is an example of such assessment. While the New Zealand Early Childhood Regulations advise that parents are to be part of ...

In 2013, attending an early childhood education (ECE) service became a social obligation for children of beneficiaries in New Zealand. This article draws on stories gathered through interviews in a qualitative study of the effects of ECE social obligations on affected families and whānau. This article is intended to stimulate discussion and contribute ...