Dr Lesley Rameka
National President
I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Waikato. I have worked in early childhood education for over 35years, beginning my journey in te kohanga reo, and working in a number of professional development and tertiary education providers over the years. During this time, I taught many of the ECE papers, and undergraduate, post graduate, masters and doctoral programmes.
My research interests include; Māori early childhood education, Kaupapa Māori Assessment in early childhood, Curriculum development in Māori early childhood services, Māori pedagogies, Māori and Pacific perspectives of Infants and Toddlers care and education, and Māori immersion educational transitions. I am currently working on three projects - exploring mana and kaitiakitanga in ECE, examining bicultural belonging for refugee children and families in ECE and langaculture in Māori communities.
I have recently been part of a number of MoE and ERO advisory/writing groups: Te Hurihanganui A Blueprint For Transformative System Shift (2019); He Māpuna te Tamaiti: Supporting Social and Emotional Competence in Early Learning (2019); Reference Group Strategic Plan for Early Learning (2019); Nga Pou Here: How ERO Reviews Early Learning Services and School Evaluation (2018); Writer update of Te Whāriki (2017).