Implementing Children's Rights in Early Education‪.‬

Introduction Aotearoa/New Zealand's clean green image is a major drawcard for international visitors. Our tourism industry promotes our natural resources and gives the impression of easy access to relatively unspoiled, unpopulated beaches, bush, mountains and rivers. These features lend weight to assumptions that childhood in such a country must be healthier and less complex than elsewhere. However, the reality of a young child's day-to-day experiences in a suburban early care and education centre tells a different tale. Places and spaces may be shared by teachers and children, but how these are used and experienced differs, and essentially, the underlying issue is one of quality provision of early childhood services. What has this to do with children's rights? Perceptions of what children's rights are, and how they are enacted, are influenced by the context of the early childhood service which in turn influences how they are enacted, or reified in practice (Te One, 2009). In other words, early childhood service regulations, the organisational systems in a service, the physical environment, and teachers' perceptions of children's rights all exert an influence on children's experiences.