How Do Educators Establish Sensitive Relationships With Infants (Six Weeks to Twelve Months of Age) in an Early Childhood Context of Aotearoa/New Zealand?

This research explores how qualified early childhood educators establish responsive relationships with infants from the ages of six weeks to twelve months of age in a mainstream early childhood centre context in Auckland, New Zealand. In this research learning stories were used as a basis for discussion linking to the requirements of national Early Childhood Education curriculum document “Te Whāriki” (Ministry of Education, 1996). By analyzing discussions surrounding this documentation, I examined how educators promote and build responsive relationships with the infants with whom they interact, and how the educators view their teaching practices and pedagogy.