Contributors

Helen Butcher teaches early childhood education at the University of the West of England. She co-edited Whose Childhood Is It? (2009, London: Continuum) with Richard Eke and Mandy Lee. As well having an interest in ‘kindness’ and the professional development of early childhood practitioners, she also has research interests in early childhood education policy and young children’s rights in the curriculum.

Pearl D’Silva is currently Program Leader- Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) at New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC). She has been working at NZTC for the last five years, initially setting up NZTC in India and acting as Academic Manager. Prior to this, she worked in early childhood education in Mumbai. She has also served as Executive Committee Member for the Association for Early Childhood Education and Development (AECED), a not-for-profit organization that works for the interests of the young children as well as other stakeholders in the Indian early childhood sector.

Richard Eke PhD teaches early childhood education at the University of the West of England, He was formerly an associate dean and then joint Head of Academic Development in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science at UWE. He co-edited Whose Childhood Is It? (2009, London: Continuum) with Helen Butcher and Mandy Lee, and with John Lee he co-authored Using Talk Effectively in the Primary Classroom (2009, London: Routledge) he is currently working with colleagues at UWE on kindness in early childhood and the application of social, developmental, cognitive neuroscience by workers with very young children.

Sujatha Gomathinayagam is a lecturer in New Zealand Tertiary College, Auckland. Originally from Mumbai, India, Sujatha worked in education for seventeen years, teaching commerce to high school students. She has published many articles in newspapers and reviewed books both in her home language Tamil, and in English. In New Zealand, she trained in early childhood at the University of Auckland and was an early childhood educator in Auckland for five years before moving on to teacher education. She lives in Auckland with her husband and two daughters.

Mamta Sen Gupta studied at New Zealand Tertiary College, qualifying in 2012 with a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education). She graduated with Bachelors in Commerce from Bombay University, India, in 1986. After bringing up two daughters, she decided to retrain as an early childhood educator. Currently she is working full time in Palmerston North and enjoying her work every bit.

Kym Macfarlane has worked in the early childhood sector for forty years. She has experience as an early childhood teacher and in higher education in the field of Child and Family Studies in Human Services. She has extensive experience in working and researching practice issues with children and families from birth to eight years. Her research and publication work covers this area, as well as a wide range of topics related to the disciplines of human services and education. Kym demonstrates a strong understanding of practice related issues in these disciplines and has a particular interest in pedagogy for birth to three year olds.

Her PhD research, entitled An analysis of parent engagement in schooling in contemporary Queensland, particularly relates to the notion of community engagement in schooling and the issues for parents that result from this engagement in the contemporary contexts.

Mark Nagasawa is Assistant Professor of Child Development at the Erikson Institute. His research brings critical cultural studies to education policy-making, to examine how policies unequally affect people in local communities. These inquiries are informed by a professional background that includes experiences as a teacher/social worker and preschool director for an urban school district, as a policy analyst in the Arizona Governor’s Office, and as an early childhood special education specialist with the Arizona Department of Education.

Evonne Phillips has been involved in adult teaching for the past 9 years and has taught in the early childhood sector for 20 years prior to beginning work with adults. She is currently teaching on the Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) and Graduate Diploma programmes at New Zealand Tertiary College. She is also involved extensively in field practice work with students on practicum. She has a keen interest in values and beliefs, including spirituality, and power as they relate to the teaching environment. Evonne completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Education in 2012 and has Bachelor of Education (Adult Education), plus a Diploma of Kindergarten Teaching and a National Certificate in Adult Literacy (Educator).

Marilee Pretorius studied at New Zealand Tertiary College, qualifying in 2012 with a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education). Originally from South Africa, she moved to New Zealand at the age of 5. Marliee entered into child care work at the age of 17. She started studying at the same time towards her Bachelors of Teaching (Early Childhood Education). She enjoys all aspects of child care education and feels passionately about providing children with the best opportunities and care possible. Her other interests include horse riding and motor sport which she enjoys in her spare time.

Debra Ross studied at New Zealand Tertiary College, qualifying in 2012 with a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education). She was born and educated in Howick, Auckland. Having completed a hairdressing apprenticeship, Debra progressed to owning her own salon at the age 21. Having married, and raised four girls, she found herself spending a lot of time at playcentre, motherhelp and kindy. Here she found her true passion in life was educating young children. She sees it as natural progression to gain her Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education.

Beth Blue Swadener is Professor of Justice and Social Inquiry and Associate Director of the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on internationally comparative social policy, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, impacts of neoliberal policy on local communities and children’s rights and voices. She has published ten books, including Reconceptualizing the Early Childhood Curriculum; Children and Families “At Promise”; Does the Village Still Raise the Child?; Decolonizing Research in Cross-Cultural Context and Power and Voice in Research with Children. She serves as Associate Editor of the American Educational Research Journal and is a co-founder of the Jirani Project, serving children in Kenya and Local to Global Justice. She is active in several child advocacy organisations in Arizona.