In September 2002, the New Zealand Government released Pathways to the Future: Ngā Huarahi Arataki, its policy statement in support of the ten-year strategic plan for the early childhood education sector. The document identifies three core goals as a focus for government action: increasing participation in quality early childhood education (ECE) services; improving quality of ECE services; and promoting collaborative relationships. This article positions Pathways to the Future within the broader context of recent early childhood policy and current discourse about children and children’s rights. It discusses the policy strategies implemented during 2002 in support of the three core goals of the strategic plan, and reviews gains and remaining challenges.
A combination of research and policy initiatives in early childhood has resulted in a growing interest in young children’s rights. It is a complex discourse characterised by ambiguous understandings of what children’s rights are. This article discusses some of the main early childhood policies and documents from the mid-1980s until the release of the Strategic Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002), with a focus on children’s rights – a focus that has been, at times, subsumed by other contextual influences, including political and economic agendas. While research findings and policy initiatives now appear to be more aligned, children as citizens with rights are still vulnerable.
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