This paper argues that when young children are given an opportunity for their voice to be heard, they are competent communicators and social agents who can co-create cultural practices as theory makers. The paper draws on video recorded data from a small study that focussed on how young children (3-5 years) participated in an end-of-year cultural…

The purpose of this study was to create a culturally relevant, inquiry-based science lesson plan and examine how I can become a more culturally relevant educator. This was done first through the use of seminal frameworks in both pedagogies to examine similarities and differences. Secondly, eight experts in the fields were interviewed to gather…

In this article, we examine how teachers in two kindergartens, one in New Zealand and one in China, used the stimulus of a fictional story combining mythical creatures from Maori and Chinese culture to enhance young children's sense of place and cultural identity. Sociocultural understandings about the role of collaboration and cultural tools in…

This essay explores childhood education, storytelling, and the nature of myth from an Indigenous perspective. Aspects of Indigenous teaching and learning are discussed related to the ways myth and storytelling have traditionally functioned in Indigenous communities in the education of children. The deeper psychological nature of myth as an…

There is an unspoken myth in the field of early care and education: the people in the field are needed to nurture children and keep on giving without needing anything in return--ever. Such a myth has contributed to the burnout of so many potentials. If adults do not refuel, renew, take care of themselves, they cannot expect to do anything but…