Politics in the playground

the long version

This lively account of early childhood education and care in postwar New Zealand is a follow-up to the author s earlier study, Discovery of Early Childhood, which traced the origins of institutional care for young children in Europe and New Zealand. The evolution of systems of care and the increasing importance of preschool are documented. Because children are central to New Zealand s social history, this book also serves as a remarkable record of social movements. The postwar search for security, the radicalism of the 1960s and 1970s, the impact of feminism, and the role of the state in social issues are charted through their role in early childhood education.