Recent research indicates that children develop the emergent knowledge and skills that lead to formal literacies in their homes and early childhood settings long before school entry. The research evidence is clear that emergent literacy needs to be actively encouraged in the early years, if children are to have optimum chances of learning to read at school. In New Zealand, there are only a few studies of how literacy is promoted and practised in early childhood settings. This paper examines how 107 teachers in a range of early childhood settings believe that they promote literacy and their reflections on the ways in which Te Whāriki (the national curriculum) influences that practice. The implications for promoting literacy in early childhood settings are explored.

Keywords: emergent literacy, early childhood, Te Whāriki, teachers’ beliefs, literacy practices

AJEC, Vol. 31 No. 2, June 2006, pp. 31-41.