Author(s): Helen May

Education

This lively account of early childhood education and care in postwar New Zealand is a follow-up to the author's earlier study. "Discovery of Early Childhood, which traced the origins of institutional care for young children in Europe and New Zealand. The evolution of systems of care and the increasing importance of preschool are documented. Because children are central to New Zealand's social history, this book also serves as a remarkable record of social movements. The postwar search for security, the radicalism of the 1960s and 1970s, the impact of feminism, and the role of the state in social issues are charted through their role in early childhood education. The language of the debate has shifted from 'social progress' in mid-century, to the economic terminology of the 1990s, and some cautious consideration of the young child citizen in the 2000s.

Contents: Psychology and Freedom; Psychology of Disorder; Getting Ahead; Politics of Early Childhood; Demanding Childcare; Working with Children; Indigenous Rights ad Minority Issues; Winds of Reform; Measures of Quality; 'Blue Skies' in the 'playground'; References; Abbreviations; Glossary; Index.



First published in 2001; this revised edition 2009.