Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand is a small island country located in the southern Pacific Ocean. Eastern Polynesian migrants came in canoe groups probably in the 13th century ce, and the first settlers and Indigenous people were Māori. In 2020, the population is nearly five million, and is ethnically diverse. Early childhood education (ECE) covers the period from birth to age 5 years. Recently, for policy purposes, ECE services have been categorized broadly as teacher-led and parent/whānau-led (extended family) to differentiate between how the services operate and are funded. A teacher-led service is one where one or more qualified teachers are responsible for the overall program in the service. They are required to have a person responsible who is a registered, early childhood education qualified teacher (equivalent to a three-year specialist degree or diploma) and meet the government’s regulation that 50 percent of required staff must hold this recognized qualification. There is now a funding incentive for teacher-led services to employ 80 percent or more of staff with this recognized qualification. In 2019, 96 percent of services had a teaching staff qualification rate of over 80 percent. In addition, there is a current policy shift toward teacher-led services employing 100 percent of staff with this qualification. Within the teacher-led grouping, education and care centers (childcare centers) cater to the largest number of children and offer full-day, sessional, or half-day provision. Home-based services (family daycare) provide for an educator to work with children in the educator’s home or the child’s home at hours to suit parents; 70 percent of education and care and 92 percent of home-based services are for-profit, owned, and managed by private companies or owners. Kindergartens mainly operate under a school-day or sessional provision and cater for children aged 2 to 5 years. The Correspondence School is a distance education service, and is directly provided by the state. Parent/whānau-led services have high levels of parent or whānau involvement in providing education and care for children. They do not have to meet teacher registration targets, but the licensed parent/whānau-led services have their own service specific–qualification requirements. Kōhanga reo (Māori immersion language nests) were established in 1982 and have been described as “the most vigorous and innovative educational movement in this country (dare I say in the world).” They offer total immersion in Māori and foster Māori language, cultural identity, and self-determination. Pacific Early Childhood Groups are total immersion or bilingual in their home Pacific language. They may be sessional or full day. In sessional playcenters, parents undertake curriculum implementation, management, and administration, and are trained through the Playcentre Federation. Sessional playgroups are also run by parents, but parents require no training.