New

Zea

lan

d

Jean Rockel, II World Congress on early childhood:

“The formation and in-service training of

educational agents for early childhood care”

26 September 2012.

Mt Eden … my home

Auckland

4 and half million people

Originally Polynesian - Maori

Colonized by British; in 1840 Treaty of Waitangi with Maori chiefs: bicultural society.

3 official languages: English/Maori/Sign

Ethnic diversity: Pasifika people, Asian, Indian and European population.

Equity.

20 hours free care and education for 3-4 year olds in teacher-led services. Care for under-3

home-based and care and education services.

The New Zealand context:

◦ Curriculum document: “Te Whariki”

◦ History of NZ care and education

◦ Pedagogy

◦ Initial teacher education: diploma/degree

1 year graduate pathway

Classes full-time/part-time on-campus

‘Distance learning’: on-line (computer)

Field-based: work and study

Te Whariki for a diverse

sector.

A curriculum

for the infant, the toddler

and the young child.

… to grow up as competent and

confident learners and communicators,

healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure

intheir sense of belonging and in the

knowledge that they make a valued

contribution to society.

The context:

Te Whariki

“The care of infants is specialised and is neither a scaled-down three- or four-year-old programme nor a baby-sitting arrangement” (p.22).

The notion of ‘teaching’ infants and toddlers is often misunderstood -previously viewed as ‘baby minding’ or modified practice for older children (Rockel, 2009).

50% of staff with children up to three are required to have an EC teaching qualification recognised by the NZ Teachers Council (Ministry of Education, 2012).

Change in social patterns:

2006-2010 growth in numbers of children under one increased 29.5% and under two by 21.5% (Ministry of Education, 2012).

Previous century

• Passive infant

• Needy, incapable

• ‘Precious’ objects

A different lens

21st century

Interactive infant

With capabilities

With rights

A shift in thinking: from a straight-forward idea

based on physical care, to a complexity

of ideas involving ethical responsibilities.

Baby ‘immature’ .. new life Infant ‘no speech’ .. a communicator Toddler ‘can’t walk’ (yet) .. an explorer

DISCOURSE

The images that we hold of a child will be

In order to look to the future, we need to examine different discourses from the past and present, that will impact upon our view of the infant as learner.

‘Safety’

‘Free to play’

A charitable gaze.

1902 Mother Aubert, and her sisters,

opened NZ’s first creche to enable

poor and/or unmarried mothers to

work during the day, funded by

charitable donations.

1907 Home of

Compassion,

For ‘healthy foundlings

and children suffering

from incurable diseases

and complaints’.

The logos of the Plunket Society’s health care

movement were ‘To help the mothers and save the

babies’. Truby King and the Maori leader Maui Pomare

used this slogan as both Maori and European were

concerned about the survival rates of infants.

Dr. Truby King helped found the

Plunket Society in 1907.

A health

gaze

Truby King believed in a regulated and imposed sense of order.

Has this impacted our EC services

today? Why?

A medical gaze.

Protection of newborns from widespread fear of infection - the flu epidemic.

Later they were to discover that hospitals could contribute their own risks.

20th century

1949 – the

political

gaze: Working

mothers

Identity

Liberation for

indigenous

rights – Te

Kohanga Reo,

1982.

A’oga Fa’a Samoa Early Childhood Centre,

1990, the first licensed and chartered Pacific islands centre.

The modern child –

global;

less local?

An emphasis on health and hygiene (medical model of care)

‘the-more-the-better- (more mobiles, language ‘stimulation’; educational learning materials.

Anne Stonehouse (2003)

The Aubert

Centre,

Wellington,

continues.

The ‘dance’ of

relationships:

teachers

respond

to the child

Dalli, Kibble,

Cairns-Cowan,

Corrigan &

McBride (2009).

title

Audience -

student-teachers; teachers; academics; policy developers.

Research initiatives

Features –

New researPeer reviewed, quality assured articles;

ch; curriculum matters; position papers; reviews;

cultural perspectives

National ‘priorities’ – IT, literacy, numeracy.

Research on neurobiology

Cultural studies

Ethics; social justice

Health studies, environmental factors and infection control

Multi-disciplinary frameworks

Philosophy

Politics and policy

In addition to psychology and education.

Bachelor of Education (Teaching) (ECE)

3 years (or equivalent)

Content:

History & society; Te Whariki;

Development, learning and teaching

Health and wellbeing

Technology; Science; Maths; Social sciences

Arts (art/music/drama/dance);

Language and literacies; te reo Maori

Play and pedagogy; Infant-toddler pedagogies.

◦ “The regulatory regime has minimum standards that are too low; the infant and toddler content in teacher education programmes is too meagre.” (p.xx)

what to reduce or remove –

pragmatic attempts are made to distribute content across several

units of study with a birth-to-five

focus.

Ultimately this reduces content with the focus on the very first years.

Clarity in content UtoT Lack of visibility of UtoT

5 providers (all universities) with specialised courses

Specialised courses had substantive, up-to-date references

In-depth assessments for UtoT.

Specialised lecturer knowledge.

6 providers with material spread across

Content birth to five

years, minimal content children up to 3

Assessment optional

Insufficient specific

research

International reputation for institutional care

Paediatricians; pedagogues (Masters degree; caregivers (College degree). In-house training

(2 year mentoring)

Content: child development; movement; play; education during care; observation; theories of learning (Vygotsky/Winnicott/Meltzoff); self-awareness – personal stories of relationships; working with parents; philosophy of respect.

(1) “Jack” infants-toddler & families course Quality in group settings Te Whariki Understanding self – understanding others Discourses of care Environments and spaces Transitions: emotional, cultural and linguistic

continuity Philosophies of practice Diverse perspectives/diversity Teacher panel.

Socio-cultural historical-political issues of care and education.

Philosophies of practice and cultural perspectives

Infant-toddler learning and development and analysis of selected theoretical perspectives

Three themes: Security (brain research); identity (diversity); and exploration (play)

Care in curriculum; learning environments.

Selected curriculum topics for student research, e.g. music.

Philosophies of practice, for example:

‘Respect’ – Resources for infant educarers (RIE) (Magda Gerber)

‘Free movement’ Pikler Institute

‘Image of the child’ Reggio Emilia

Indigenous models: ◦ Tapa wha – holistic wellbeing philosophy (Maori)

◦ Samoan spirituality

Rosemary Roberts (2010) .. Interdependence of four constructs:

“Firstly, agency;

Secondly, belonging;

Thirdly, communication

Fourthly, physical wellbeing?”

(p.29)

Using their

‘agency’/actions to

chose or remove

items.

“What is the place of love and care in our profession?” (Dalli, 2006; Hughes, 2010)

“Is education inclusive of care?”

BELONGING

Caring encounters are learning experiences for the very young … “it is by being the cared-for that he or she will learn how to be the one-caring”.

(Goldstein, 1998, p.3, in

Rockel, 2009)

Communicating

A professional identity?

Is the person with infants a ‘caregiver’…

primary caregiver or key teacher/key

person?

worker, director, supervisor, educator

teacher? Whaea/kaiako, faiaoga?

A caring teacher as smiling with warm hugs obscures the complexity and intellectual challenges for teachers (Goldstein, 1998).

Contemporary beliefs are based on a culture of thinking, reflection, debate and dialogue by adults;

deep and broad knowledge of child development

appreciation of the active role infants play in their own learning.

Anne Stonehouse (2003)

Involves the ‘big picture’ of caring

Showing empathy

Caring about the quality of services

Social justice

Sustainability – recycling

(Tromso, Norway)

“… curriculum is only a guide or a book on a shelf – it requires teachers to mediate the content with pedagogy to put ideas

into action.” J. Rockel (2009, p.7)

PEDAGOGY IS VALUES-BASED, INFORMED BY

THEORIES OF LEARNING/TEACHING AND PHILOSOPHIES (of practice)

Rather than a vision of the world full of self-sufficient individuals “we live instead in an interdependent world in which our moral values are created through the way we relate to each other, starting as early as babyhood”.

(S. Gerhardt, 2011, p.5)

Social change has impacted our views of teaching and learning.

Practice has moved beyond task

efficiency and towards thoughtful consideration of scientific knowledge and philosophies and values.

What will pedagogy for children up to 3

mean for teacher-education programmes and curriculum in EC care and education centres?

54

Dalli, C. (2006). Re-visioning love and care in early childhood: Constructing the future of our profession. The First Years Nga Tau Tuatahi NZ Journal of Infant and Toddler Education, 8(1), 5-11.

Dalli, C., Kibble, N., Cairns-Cowan, N., Corrigan, J. & McBride, B. (2009). Reflecting on primary caregiving through action research. The First Years Nga Tau Tuatahi NZ Journal of Infant and Toddler Education 11(2), 38-46.

Gerhardt, S. (2011). The selfish society: how we all forgot to love one another and made money instead. London: Simon & Schuster.

Hughes, R. (2010). Where is the love? Putting love at the heart of early childhood teaching. The First Years Nga Tau Tuatahi NZ Journal of Infant and Toddler Education 12(2), 25-28.

Roberts, R. (2010). Wellbeing from birth. London: SAGE.

Rockel, J. (2009). A pedagogy of care: Moving beyond the margins of managing work and minding babies. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 34(3), 1-8.