Parents’ perspective on early childhood education in New Zealand: Voices from Pacifica families.

<p>AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND HAS a reputation for being a world leader in early childhoodeducation. However, research indicates that many early childhood teachers in NewZealand encounter difficulties when working with children and families from diversebackgrounds. In addition, though a plethora of research has been done on early childhoodteachers’ partnership with parents of multicultural backgrounds, little attention hasbeen given by researchers to Pacifika parents’ perspective on early childhood educationin New Zealand. This article draws on findings from an interpretative study on threePacifika families’ views about their cultural practice at home and their views about earlychildhood education in New Zealand. It is believed that investigating parents’ views onearly childhood education and early childhood services in New Zealand can provide bettersupport for families and children from Pacifika backgrounds.</p>