Diane Gordon-Burns is a lecturer/researcher at the University of Canterbury in the School of Māori Social and Cultural Studies in Education. Prior to life at University Di taught in early childhood centres in the top of the South Island including Te Waikoropupu te kōhanga reo and Takaka Playcentre. She also had teaching responsibilities in the region’s primary and secondary schools where she taught te reo Māori me ngā tikanga. Diane’s research interests are in the area of inclusive and equitable education/opportunities from a tiriti based curriculum perspective and second language acquisition theories and issues. Her doctoral work is in the area of Māori oral histories where she is specifically writing about significant ancestresses of Tainui. Diane’s whakapapa is Ngāti Mahuta of Waikato.

Rachel Hughes has been involved in early childhood education for twenty years. She was a graduate of the benchmark three year Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) from Dunedin College of Education, and has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Otago. She has taught across the sector in various positions in New Zealand and overseas. Rachel is currently lecturing at New Zealand Tertiary College and studying towards her Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She has two beautiful daughters, Emma and Olivia, and is supported by Grant her husband. Rachel is a passionate advocate for children and their rights to be loved and respected. She is strongly influenced by the Reggio Emilia and RIE approaches and their application in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context.

Manutai Leaupepe is a lecturer in the School of Critical Studies in Education, Faculty of Education, at the University of Auckland. She lectures in a range of early childhood education courses within Pasifika and mainstream for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Her research interests include Pasifika education, early childhood education, curriculum developments in the early years, Pasifika women in education and notions of play from diverse cultures with a focus on Pacific Island teachers, student teachers and parents perceptions of play and the influences this has towards young children’s learning and development.

Evonne Phillips is currently teaching on the Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) programme at New Zealand Tertiary College. She has a keen interest in values, beliefs and power as they relate to the teaching environment. Evonne has completed a Bachelor of Education (Adult Education), holds a Diploma of Kindergarten teaching, and is currently enrolled in post graduate studies in adult education at Massey University.

Vaitulusinaolemoana Pua is a NZ born Samoan. She is a passionate ECE educator with great understanding of the politics surrounding bilingual education that has brought to the foreground the importance of young children’s rights to using their own languages within the learning process. Her understanding plays an active part in her teaching/learning pedagogy.

Kerry Purdue is a lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Canterbury College of Education, and was an early childhood teacher. Kerry has a particular interest in inclusive early childhood education and social justice issues. Her PhD research looked at issues around the inclusion and exclusion of children with disabilities and their families in early childhood settings. Kerry is of Ngāi Tahu/Pākēha descent.

Benita Rarere-Briggs is a teacher educator at the University of Canterbury. She works primarily with first year pre-service early childhood students in the field of professional studies. Benita’s interests lie in how family and whānau voices are heard in early childhood settings and the transitions that children experience into, within and out of early childhood settings. Benita’s whakapapa is Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou.

Robyn Stark is a lecturer at the University of Canterbury working with pre- service teachers in the early childhood teacher education programme. Robyn has had experience in a range of early childhood services prior to teaching at the University. Her interests lie in the areas of disability studies, children’s rights and the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in initial teacher education.

Joy Stott has been an early childhood teacher since 1987, when she was Playcentre supervisor for Counties Playcentre Association. She gained her Diploma of Teaching (ECE) in 1991, BEd (Hons) in 2007 and has just completed her MEd at the University of Auckland. She relieved for the Franklin Kindergarten Association before building her own childcare centre in Pukekohe in 2003, which she currently manages. She is particularly interested in the field of early childhood visual arts and is currently undertaking a research project in this area at the University of Auckland prior to embarking on her doctorate. Joy can be contacted at Over the Rainbow Early Learning Centre, 12 Victoria Street, Pukekohe. Phone 09 238 9544. E-mail joy@stott.co.nz

Sarah Te One has had over 25 years of experience in early education as a teacher, researcher, unionist, and as a parent. Sarah’s doctoral thesis investigated perceptions of children’s rights in three New Zealand early childhood services. She is a lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington where she teaches childhood sociology, and children’s rights. Her current research is focused on parent support and development in early childhood services. She has been involved in several major research projects including the Centres of Innovation and a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative.

Patisepa Vaitimu Tuafuti was born and educated in Samoa before migrating to Aotearoa in 1976. She is a senior lecturer at the School of Critical Studies at the University of Auckland.

Karen Turnock works with pre-service early childhood teacher education students at the University of Canterbury. Her research interests include inclusion, assessment, infants and toddlers and teacher change. In her Master’s thesis she explored the various ways a team of early childhood teachers made sense of, and used, an assessment framework based on learning dispositions and formative assessment. Karen is of Ngāi Tahu descent.

Sonya van Schaijik is a Samoan afakasi primary school teacher who was born and educated in Samoa before migrating to NZ at the age of 10 with few words in English. Sonya has been fully tattooed with the malu (woman’s tattoo) as a sign of her dedication to her language and culture.