Creating spaces of empathy in the face of regimes of control

Abstract

This article focuses on the context of early childhood education in Aotearoa (New Zealand). It argues that greater consideration be given to the recognition of the ongoing intergenerational trauma resulting from histories of colonisation, particularly with regard to early childhood care and education pedagogies. It critiques the introduction of the US programme, the ‘Incredible Years’, since the behaviourist stance of its strategies lack empathy, and contradict the philosophy of the relationally based New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki.