A Research On The Integration Education And Care Reform Of The Pre-school Education In New Zealand

Pre-school care and education are two indispensable service areas for pre-school children.The two are interrelated and mutually integrated.The historical tradition of“separation of education and care”causes the lack of pre-school care function and the deviation of educational function,which cannot guarantee complete pre-school education and care service for pre-school children.With the deepening research in the fields of brain science,pedagogy,psychology and sociology,coupled with the promotion of the concept of integration of education and care,governments have realized the important value of the integration of education and care,and more and more countries have begun to pay attention to the key development period from birth to preschool age,with particular emphasis on childcare services for infants and toddlers aged 0-3,which will give a good start to the future development of children.In order to ensure fair opportunities and quality of service in pre-school education,New Zealand has reformed the two systems of pre-school care and education since1980s,and is committed to integrating such key elements as policy,management systems,curriculum content,faculty and regulatory systems of education and care.New Zealand also broadens the concept of pre-school education and expands the age range and content areas of pre-school education to form a system of pre-school education integration for infants and young children aged 0-6,and to achieve the healthy development of“care in education,education in care,integration of education and care”.This study attempts to systematically explore New Zealand’s pre-school education reform path from the perspective of integration of education and care,with a view to inspiring the reform of pre-school education in China.This study mainly includes the following five parts:The first part analyzes the three backgrounds of the reform of integration of early childhood care and education in New Zealand,namely the international background,theoretical background and realistic background.The road to reform of the education and care integration in the field of pre-school education in New Zealand is promoted by the concept of integration of education and care in international organizations,guided by the theoretical foundation of human ecology,and impacted by the requirement of pre-school quality,which gradually deepens every aspect involved in reform of care and education field.The second part divides the reform process of New Zealand’s education and care integration into three major periods.From the 1970s to the 1980s,the reform of the integration of education and care has just started,the concept of educare has begun to sprout,and the idea of integration has gradually penetrated the hearts of the people.From the 1980s to the beginning of the 21^st century,the reform of integration of education and care continued to advance,and the scope and content were more extensive and deepened.Finally,from the beginning of the 21^st century to the present,New Zealand continued to consolidate the results of the reform of integration of education and care and further developed.The entire reform process is guided by policy guidelines and strategic planning.The reform has the characteristics of early beginning,long duration,wide scope and remarkable impacts.The third part elaborates the four major measures for the reform of integration education and care.New Zealand has adopted the transformation of the administrative management system,the promulgation of the national curriculum standard“Te Whāriki”,the integration of the cultivation path of pre-school teachers,and the construction of a unified regulatory system,which reflects the reform process of the key areas from“separation of education and care”to“integration of education and care”to“educare”.It promotes the deep integration of pre-school care and education from the policy system level to practice level,and deepens and consolidates the reform of integration.The fourth part evaluates the reform of integration of education and care in New Zealand.This reform has improved the enrollment and participation of preschool children in New Zealand,has guaranteed the quality of pre-school education,and has promoted the diversification of comprehensive pre-school institutions,but there are also some problems and challenges,such as the affordability of education fees in families,the role conversion for caring and teaching staff,and the balance of the stakeholders.The overall results of New Zealand’s reform of integration are significant and have a far-reaching impact.The fifth part puts forward inspiring suggestions based on the reform of integration of education and care in New Zealand.At the legislative level,it is necessary to establish an integrated system of pre-school education and care for 0-6years old as soon as possible,and a monorail management system should be formed at the administrative level.In the aspect of the curriculum standard,it is also of great importance to integrate the contents of pre-school education and care service and publish the national unified curriculum framework,and also establish an integrated system of pre-school teacher training in the aspect of faculty construction.