scholarly journals [email protected]: Mapping the Landscape of the “Century of the Child”

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen May
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Family ◽  
Present Context ◽  
Emergence Of Institutions

The “Century of the Child” was so named in 1900 by the Swedish writer Ellen Key. In its concluding year, this chapter sketches some maps of childhood in “Aotearoa New Zealand” in terms of: changes in how our society has viewed “children before five”; the emergence of institutions outside of the family to care and educate the “before fives”; different constructions of “before five” childhood and child institutions for Maori and Pakeha; the present context of early childhood services sited amidst new economic and political discourses that are transforming the role of the state.

scholarly journals The role of the State in Early Childhood Care and Education: Kindergartens as a Case Study of Changing Relationships

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Davison ◽  
Linda Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
The State ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Childhood Care

Much of the public discussion of early childhood education policies has focused on particular policy initiatives, rather than considering more broadly what should be the role of the state in relation to young children’s education and upbringing. The roles that the state chooses to play are political decisions that are influenced by constructions of childhood and preferred policy approaches. In turn, these policy approaches help shape the nature of early childhood education. This article analyses changing models of state responsibility for New Zealand kindergartens to highlight their repercussions on kindergartens and the wider early childhood education sector. It argues that the state needs to take a supportive and responsible role in provision of early childhood care and education, to support a move away from a market model, and to resolve inequities in children’s access and teacher employment conditions that continue to beset the sector. The article ends by setting the discussion within an international context and suggesting policy challenges for early childhood education in New Zealand.

scholarly journals Editorial: The social work voice – doxa and dissent in neoliberal times

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Keddell ◽  
Deb Stanfield ◽  
Ian Hyslop
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
The State ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
Critical Responses

Welcome to this special issue of Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work. The theme for this edition is Child protection, the family and the state: critical responses in neoliberal times.

The Role of the State In the Family

2019 ◽  
pp. 195-215
Author(s):  
Bernadette Lanciaux
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Family

The Growing Role of the State in the Family

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-61
Author(s):  
Stephen Baskerville
Keyword(s):  
Family Policy ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The State ◽  
Parental Rights ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Modern History ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Family ◽  
Government Bureaucracy

The role of the state in the family has been increasing, arguably,since the beginning of modern history. Historical sociologists like CarleZimmerman suggested that modern history has been characterizedby a gradual increase in the power of the state and that this growthis inversely proportionate to the declining importance of the family.The very field and concept of “family policy” presupposes that the fa-mily is a legitimate sphere of life for state intervention and activity. Yetthe intervention of the state may be like the touch of Midas: that whichit touches it destroys. If scholars like Zimmerman are correct, then themore the state intervenes in the family, the more we can expect the fa-mily to decline. This is borne out by recent experience, and very logicalreasons may be adduced for this and very clear manifestations in are-as like family integrity, parental rights, child welfare, and the increasein family-connected bureaucracies associated with the welfare state.Often our only acceptable response to the problems created by govern-ment intervention is more government intervention. Not only can thecure be worse than the disease; the cure canbe the disease. The resultis ever-more-powerful and ever-more-intrusive government bureaucracy– all purporting to solve the problems created by the previously policiesand the previous bureaucracy. The only way to break this vicious cycle isto discard some of our sacred assumptions about what constitutes familyhealth and to accept a new understanding of the relations between thefamily and the state.

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