What are children learning in early childhood education in New Zealand?

Abstract

It is widely assumed that children's learning is enhanced through being involved in early childhood education but the evidence to substantiate this in New Zealand is limited. Sources of information that could be expected to show what children are learning include the national curriculum, documentation provided by early childhood centres, evaluations from the Education Review Office, and government-funded research reports. This article examines each of these sources and finds they provide little evidence about what children are learning. One of the difficulties is the strong reliance on Learning Stories as the main form of assessment in centres and research investigations. A case is made that it is time for the Ministry of Education to reconsider the advice it is providing on how to assess young children's learning.