A new Early Years Research Centre at
the University of Waikato has been established in the Faculty of Education
with a focus on education and children aged 0 to 8 years.
The centre will be led by its Director,
Professor Margaret Carr, with associate directors
Associate Professors Linda Mitchell and Sally Peters.
Professor Carr says the new centre will
provide a broad platform of research and focus on three research themes:
pedagogy, policy, and community connections.
"It has a social justice agenda
and aims to make a difference for young children, families and whānau in
Aotearoa New Zealand and to provide cutting edge research of interest to
scholars in this country and abroad," she says.
Projects underway
Recent projects by researchers in the
centre include museum education with children under five years, evaluation of
early childhood in Timor Leste, polyphonic video analysis of the perspectives
of babies, the use of i-Pads in early childhood centres, a study of children
after an earthquake, and an exploration of documentation strategies in
collaboration with kaiako in a kōhanga reo.
Professor Carr says the new centre's
research has been translated into Danish, Italian and Japanese, and its launch
validates an international reputation already developed through the research
and teaching by its staff over the past 20 years.
Establishing Waikato University as a leader
"Through the establishment of this
centre we aim to consolidate the reputation of the University of Waikato as one
of the most innovative contributors and leaders in the ECCE field," says
Professor Carr.
Among the programmes that will come
under the umbrella of the new centre is a new four-year international
collaboration called 'Pedagogies of Educational Transitions' (POET), a Marie
Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) involving five
universities: University of Strathclyde, UK; Mälardalen University, Sweden;
University of Iceland; Charles Stuart University, Australia ; and the
University of Waikato.
The New Zealand team's participation in
that programme is supported by funding from the New Zealand Royal Society.
The Early Years Research Centre, He
Kōhanga Toi Tangata, will be launched at a cocktail function at 5.30pm on
Friday 7 June with a celebratory symposium following on Saturday 8 June and
featuring speakers from New Zealand and Australia.
3 comments:
Sounds fantastic, what a great opportunity for Early Childhood Education in New Zealand. xx
And beyond....I agree, but its only New Zealand who will benefit. Good news.
Oops, I meant to say, "It's not only New Zealand who will benefit."
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