In the past few decades there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of early childhood education in New Zealand. Concomitant with this has been the move towards professionalising the early childhood sector through a national curriculum and increased expectations for its practitioners. This paper examines issues relating to the changing role of early childhood teachers as they manage the implementation of the New Zealand curriculum. There is no consensus about what makes up the professional knowledge base for early childhood educators. This paper explores the nature of professional knowledge and suggests that subject matter knowledge may be more important than previously recognised for early childhood educators.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Auckland University of Technology. (1998). Bachelor of education early childhood teaching statement of intent. Unpublished document.
2.
BibbyT. (1999). Subject knowledge, personal history and professional change. Teacher Development, 3(2), 219–232.
3.
CullenJ. (1994). Why retain a developmental focus in early education? In MellorE. J. & CoombesK. M. (Eds.). Issues in early childhood services: Australian perspectives, (pp. 53–64). Dubuque, ID: William C. Brown.
4.
CullenJ. (1999). Children's knowledge, teachers’ knowledge: Implications for early childhood teacher education. Australian Journal for Teacher Education, 24(2), 15–25.
Educational Review Office. (1998). The Use of Te Whaariki.Wellington: Educational Review Office.
7.
EdwardsA, & KnightP. (2000). Effective early years education: Teaching young children.Philadelphia: Open University Press.
8.
FleerM. (Ed). (1995). DAP centrism: Challenging developmentally appropriate practice.ACT: Australian Early Childhood Association.
9.
GoffinS. E. (2000). The role of curriculum models in early childhood education. Clearinghouse on elementary and early childhood education. Retrieved February 8, 2001, from http://ericece.org/pubs/digests/2000/goffin00.html.
10.
GunnA. C. (2000). Teachers’ beliefs in relation to visual art education in early childhood centers. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education, 3, 153–162.
11.
HaynesM. (2000). Teacher education for early childhood through the New Zealand curriculum framework, New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education, 3, 163–176.
12.
HedgesH. (2000). Teaching in early childhood: Time to merge constructivist views so learning through play equals teaching through play. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(4), 16–21.
13.
KatzL. G. (1993). Multiple perspectives on the quality of early childhood programs Clearinghouse on elementary and early childhood education. Retrieved February 8, 2001, from http://www.ericece.org/pubs/digests/1993/lkmu193.html.
14.
MeadeA. (1997). Good practice to best practice: Extending policies and children's minds. Early childhood Folio 3: A collection of recent research.Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
15.
Ministry of Education. (1993). The New Zealand curriculum framework.Wellington: Learning Media.
16.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki: Early childhood curriculum.Wellington: Learning Media.
17.
Ministry of Education. (1996a). Revised statement of desirable objectives and practices (DOPs) for chartered early childhood services in New ZealandPitopito Korero, 12, November. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
18.
NallyP. (1995). Curriculum development and professional development in the early childhood sector in proceedings of sixth early childhood convention, Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland, September 5–8, 208–216.
19.
ParkerJ, & HeywoodD. (2000). Exploring the relationship between subject knowledge and pedagogic content knowledge in primary teachers’ learning about forces. International Journal of Science Education, 22(1), 89–111.
20.
SarachoO. (1993). Preparing teachers for early childhood programs in the United States. In SpodekB. (Ed.), Handbook of research on the education of young children. (pp. 412–426). New York: Macmillan.
21.
ShulmanL. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.
22.
SilinJ. (1987). The early childhood educator's knowledge base: A reconsideration. In KatzL. (Ed.), Current topics in early childhood education Vol 8 (pp. 17–31). New Jersey: Ablex Corporation.
23.
SmithA. B., GrimaG., GaffneyM, & PowellK. (2000). Early childhood education: literature review report to the Ministry of Education.Children's Issues Centre: University of Otago.
24.
SpodekB, & Clark BrownP. (1993). Curriculum alternatives in early childhood education: A historical perspective. In SpodekB. (Ed.), Handbook of research on the education of young children. (pp. 91–104). New York: Macmillan.
