Chapter 15: Caring for Ourselves, Others, and the Environment: Applying an Indigenous Paradigm in Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa, New Zealand

This chapter provides a perspective from the field of early childhood education in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It draws upon theorising and data from a two-year study conducted during 2008–2009, which focused on illuminating early childhood education pedagogies that reflect and enact an ethic of care, drawing from both Māori philosophy (Ka’ai, Moorfield, Reilly, & Mosley, 2004; Mead, 2003; J. E. Ritchie, 1992) and western theoretical perspectives (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005; Gilligan, 1982; P. Martin, 2007; Noddings, 1994, 1995). Because many Māori terms are incorporated in this chapter, a reference list of the vocabulary used is provided as Appendix A on page 253.