Data and the use of data for teaching and learning can be a powerful tool. However, data can also be overwhelming or underused if teachers and leaders do not have adequate systems, supports, or mindsets to facilitate effective data use. The Data, Knowledge, Action programme of research involves early childhood ...

The early learning action plan 2019–2029, He Taonga te Tamaiti / Every Child a Taonga, ushers in a new era of thinking about the governance of early childhood education (ECE). The policy language has changed, with a shift from “early childhood education” to the “early learning system”. This article ...

Mathematical learning is an integral part of early childhood education (ECE). In Aotearoa New Zealand there is a range of valuable curriculum resources including Te Kākano, a “living, evolving” framework of purposeful activities, to assist teachers to notice and respond to mathematics learning. This article aims to contribute towards ...

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 ...