Abstract:
The 1989 New Zealand educational reforms heralded major changes in all sectors
of education. These changes included the introduction of a charter, which is
essentially a contract, between the Crown and each individual education service.
The Early Childhood Charter Guidelines: A Statement of Desirable Objectives and
Practices, promulgated by the Minister of Education in December 1990, became
the basis for the contract document required of early childhood centres which
sought to become chartered centres in receipt of government finding.
The Early Childhood Charter Guidelines, commonly referred to as the `DoPs',
include over 60 requirements and objectives which early childhood services must
meet as part of their contractual obligations (Meade and Dalli, 1991). Included in
these is a requirement that centre personnel make provision at all times 'for
parents and families to discuss their child's progress and be informed about their
child's daily programme' (Ministry of Education 1990, p.3).
The meaning and intent of the above requirement was investigated in a study
carried out in the second half of 1994 in which government agency, parent, and
centre personnel understanding of the requirement was investigated. The study
was carried out as part of the requirements of the Master of Education programme
in which the first author was enrolled. This paper focuses on data from interviews
with parents and teachers which show how teachers in eleven childcare centres
translated the requirement into manageable systems within their centres. The
paper also illuminates the practices that developed in the centres from these
systems and the extent to which the requirement became a tool for the
development of parent-teacher partnerships in the education and care of children.
