Abstract
Internationally, there is a commitment to helping refugees resettle in a new country. However, few studies have explored the role that might be played by early childhood education and care (ECEC) to support these transitions. This chapter draws on research investigating teaching and learning in an early childhood centre for refugee children and families in New Zealand. The study gathered data on teaching and learning practices through documentation and video recording of intercultural episodes. Through interviews, the researchers investigated the perspectives of teachers and families. The chapter concludes by arguing for values of respect, social justice and dialogue as a basis for creating a community based on a sense of belonging and well-being. Through providing opportunities for families and children to contribute and communicate in ways that they feel are meaningful, early childhood teachers bridge the transition process between home cultures and the culture of the early childhood centre.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adair, J., & Tobin, J. J. (2008). Listening to the voices of immigrant parents. In C. Genishi & A. L. Goodwin (Eds.), Diversities in early childhood education (pp. 137–150). New York: Routledge.
Bateman, A., Danby, S., & Howard, J. (2013a). Everyday preschool talk about Christchurch earthquakes. Australian Journal of Communication Special Issue: Disaster Talk, 40(1), 103–133.
Bateman, A., Danby, S., & Howard, J. (2013b). Living in a broken world: How young children’s well-being is supported through playing out their earthquake experiences. International Journal of Play. Special Issue on Play and Well Being, 3(3), 202–219.
Brooker, L. (2014). Making this my space: Infants’ and toddlers’ use of resources to make a day care setting their own. In J. Sumsion & L. J. Harrison (Eds.), Lived spaces of infant-toddler education and care (pp. 29–42). Dordrecht: Springer.
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care. Post modern perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
Gonzalez, N., Moll, L., & Amanti, C. (2005). Preface. In N. Gonzalez, L. Moll, & C. Amanti (Eds.), Funds of knowledge. Theorizing practices in households, communities, and class-rooms (pp. ix–xii). New York: Routledge.
Gundara, J., & Portera, A. (2008). Theoretical reflections on intercultural education. Intercultural Education, 19(6), 463–468. doi:10.1080/14675980802568244.
Guo, K. (2012). Chinese immigrants in New Zealand early childhood settings. Early Childhood Folio, 16(1), 5–9.
Haggerty, M., Simonsen, Y., Blake, M., & Mitchell, L. (2007). Investigating multiple literacies: Wadestown Kindergarten COI. Early Childhood Folio, 11, 15–20.
McCain, M., & Mustard, J. (1999). Early years study: Reversing the brain drain. Final report to Government of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. www.childsec.gov.on.ca. Accessed 29 Feb 2014.
McMillan, N., & Gray, A. (2009). Long-term resettlement of refugees: An annotated bibliography of New Zealand and international literature. Quota refugees ten years on series. Wellington: Department of Labour.
Meade, A. (2009). Generating waves. Wellington: NZCER Press.
Miller, M., & Petriwskyj, A. (2013). New directions in intercultural early education in Australia. International Journal of Early Childhood, 45(2), 252–266. doi:10.1007/s13158-013-0092-3.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki. Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2012). Working paper. Strengthening the learning: Outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education. Draft ECE Learning Outcomes Framework. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Immigration. (2014). Refugee quota branch arrivals by category, age and gender. Wellington: Ministry of Immigration.
Mitchell, L., & Ouko, A. (2012). Experiences of Congolese refugee families in New Zealand: Challenges and possibilities for early childhood provision. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(1), 99–107.
Mitchell, L., Wylie, C., & Carr, M. (2008). Outcomes of early childhood education: Literature review. Report to the ministry of education. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., Ouko, A., Gerrity, R., Lees, J., Matata, K., et al. (2015). Teaching and learning in culturally diverse early childhood settings. Hamilton, New Zealand: Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, University of Waikato.
Moss, P., & Petrie, P. (2002). From children’s services to children’s spaces. London: Routledge Falmer.
Portera, A. (2008). Intercultural education in Europe: Epistemological and semantic aspects. Intercultural Education, 19(6), 481–491. doi:10.1080/14675980802568277.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50, 696–735.
Shonkoff, J. P. (2010). Building a new biodevelopmental framework to guide the future of early childhood policy. Child Development, 81(1), 357–367.
Simonsen, Y., Blake, M., LaHood, A., Haggerty, M., Mitchell, L., & Wray, L. (2010). A curriculum whāriki of multimodal literacies. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2004). Educational disadvantage in the early years: How do we overcome it? Some lessons from research. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 12(2), 5–19.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2014). Mid year trends 2014. http://unhcr.org/54aa91d89.html. Accessed 14 Mar 2015.
University of Waikato. (2008). Ethical conduct in human research and related activities regulations. http://calendar.waikato.ac.nz/assessment/ethicalConduct.html. Accessed 14 Mar 2015.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., Gerrity, R., Myint, H.H. (2017). Bridging Transitions Through Cultural Understanding and Identity. In: Ballam, N., Perry, B., Garpelin, A. (eds) Pedagogies of Educational Transitions . International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43118-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43118-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43116-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43118-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)