This article interrogates notions of teacher 'partnership with parents' within early childhood care and education settings in the context of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, clearly positions children's learning and development as being fostered when their families' cultures and practices are recognised. Yet findings from both national evaluative reports and recent studies indicate that, in many instances, families that are not members of the dominant cultural group do not experience this synergy. The authors draw on some recent national evaluative reports to paint a broad picture of the implementation of 'partnership', and then employ illustrative data from several research projects regarding the inclusion of Māori and Chinese families respectively. The authors apply hybridity theory, along with the related idea of funds of knowledge, to reinforce the need for teachers to proactively move beyond the hegemonic safe zones of traditional teacher-dominated practices towards opening up spaces of dialogic, fluid engagement with families whose backgrounds differ from their own. This aspect of teachers' professional responsibility is particularly important in the current era of increasing superdiversity.
Countries with a superdiverse population due to increases in migration have been slow in recognising and addressing social inequalities driven by this situation (Vertovec, 2007). In Aotearoa (New Zealand), there are now more than 200 different ethnic groups and 27.4% of its population was born overseas (Statistics New Zealand, 2019), and there is also an increasing number of students with diverse cultural, linguistic and migration backgrounds enrolled in the country's early childhood teacher education programmes. The manifestation of superdiversity in Aotearoa is particularly complex and challenging since it occurs within a legislated 'bicultural' context (Royal Society of New Zealand, 2013). In light of these concerns, this paper reports findings from a study which utilised a methodology of critical discourse analysis (Gee, 2011;Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002) to examine several key institutional policy documents in order to interrogate the responsibilities of early childhood teacher education in supporting both the country's commitment to 'biculturalism' and its current superdiverse demographics. The theoretical analysis draws on Vertovec's (2007) superdiversity approach, critical multiculturalism (May, 1999) and critical and Indigenous pedagogies of place (Penetito, 2009;Perumal, 2015). While all the documents make explicit references to 'bicultural' commitments, minimal attention is given to migration-related inequality issues. Our analysis highlighted complex inter-relationships and tensions between honouring 'biculturalism' and catering for superdiversity. Recognising and addressing this complexity is important in future policy development, and teacher education providers need to ensure that their graduates have the knowledge and skills to work equitably with children, families and communities in order to address inequalities emanating from the history of colonisation in Aotearoa as well as the current superdiversity situation.
International social unrest in recent years has resulted in many people choosing or being forced to leave their home countries to seek better lives elsewhere, causing drastic demographic shifts. Yet, it has been pointed out that institutional policies and practices in many countries have not caught up with such changing demographics, which have contributed to concerns highlighted via the notion of ‘superdiversity’ ( Vertovec, 2007 ). Due to the large influx of migrants over the past few decades, New Zealand and its early childhood education settings have become increasingly ethnically and linguistically diverse. The country is now being described as a ‘superdiverse New Zealand’ and is facing challenges emerging from ‘a level of cultural complexity surpassing anything previously experienced’ ( Royal Society of New Zealand, 2013 : 1). Furthermore, population projections ( Statistics New Zealand, 2015 ) indicate that superdiversity will be a long-term phenomenon in New Zealand. Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, embraces diversity, recognising that the country ‘is increasingly multicultural’ ( Ministry of Education, 2017 : 1). In light of these concerns, this article considers the frameworks of superdiversity and critical multiculturalism with regard to transforming and developing policies and pedagogies that support working with superdiverse migrant children and their families by responding to migration-related equity and inclusion issues. This discussion has implications and relevance for both present and future early childhood education settings in New Zealand and in other countries with a large population of migrants.
This paper employs an autoethnographic approach to reflect upon my personal doctoral research journey. Methodological, ethical and social justice issues emerged from the doctoral study which used a qualitative and narrative research methodology – the life story approach – are examined in this paper, highlighting the complexity, messiness and subjectivity of this approach and the key role of reflexivity in research. The doctoral study utilised life story individual interviews conducted with ten Chinese immigrant parents to investigate their involvement in their children’s early childhood education. The participants’ stories have now become part of my life story. Personal reflections on the doctoral research journey are used as ‘findings’ – as a site for analysis by reinterpreting earlier interpretations. These reflections illuminate the importance yet complication of relationships between the researcher and participants, the fluid nature of the insider-researcher, and the complexity of meaning co-construction in qualitative and narrative research.
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