Feature 15 Sep 2020
Why now is a good time to rethink the purpose of ECE
Professor Linda Mitchell and her colleagues surveyed 156 managers from Early Childhood Education (ECE) providers on the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report explores challenges concerning the sustainability of ECE services and raises critical questions regarding funding and planning. It suggests now is a good time to rethink the purpose of ECE, to redefine ECE as a public good, and to plan, fund and support it accordingly.
Feature 2 Sep 2020
Early childhood teachers are shovel ready
Last Friday, ECE kaiako and their supporters across the country showed that ECE is primed for investment, by sending their ‘shovel-ready’ photos to key decision-makers in a day of action. Qualified ECE teachers are paid on average 24% (and up to 49%) less than their Kindergarten counterparts, despite doing what is effectively the same job. Now, ECE teachers are campaigning for fair pay: parity with Kindergarten.
Feature 7 Aug 2020
Member memories: The school in my backyard
Erin Dalton Steel recalls her childhood at Oranga Primary School, before talking with current principal Bridget Lummis.
Feature 6 Aug 2020
The journey to pay equity for teacher aides
Ako speaks with Annie Te Moana and Ally Kemplen, members of the teacher aide pay equity negotiation team about the journey to mana tauriteBook Reviews
Member memories: Riselaw Road School and Macandrew Intermediate, Dunedin
Alison Kroon who has retired, but is still a highly sought after relief teacher, recalls her own schooling more than 50 years ago.
Member memories: rural Manawatū schools
NZEI Te Riu Roa member Kylie Parry, a teacher aide and librarian at St Mary’s School in Carterton, reminisces about her time at Rangiwahia School, a rural school in Manawatū that opened in 1895 and closed for good in 2013. She then chats to the current principal of a rural school up the road from Rangiwahia, Maree Rossiter of Mangaweka School, about what school life is like now.
A cloud looming
The effects of Covid-19 will linger long after the country is clear of symptoms. AKO talks to schools in popular tourist centres Queenstown and Rotorua about the impact on their economies and communities.