Research into Policy and Practice: Early Childhood Education seminar at Institute of Education 14/05 supported by Barnardo's

As part of a seminar series helping to strengthen New Zealand and United Kingdom information ties, this first of four seminars deals with Children’s rights and childhood studies theory. Research suggest that children have the right to the best possible education during early childhood. Children during the early years are amazingly receptive to the benefits of positive learning opportunities, but at the same time vulnerable to stress and lack of positive learning opportunities. Positioning children as participating subjects, knowers and social actors, rather than the passive objects of socialization, is also an important part of recognising their rights. The lecture outlines how New Zealand’s early childhood system became a model of best practice for the recognition of children’s rights in early childhood education, and the threats posed by current fiscal policies to its ongoing integrity.