Playcentre
| Abbreviation | NZPF |
|---|---|
| Motto | Whānau tupu ngātahi - Families growing together |
| Formation | 1941 |
| Type | co-operative |
| Purpose | High quality early childhood education - a co-operative whānau/family experience |
| Location |
|
|
Region served
|
New Zealand |
|
Membership
|
Parents of children attending |
| Website | http://www.playcentre.org.nz |
Playcentre is an early childhood education and parenting organisation which operates parent-led early childhood education centres throughout New Zealand and offers parents the opportunity to gain a Diploma in Early Childhood and Adult Education.
When the first playcentre was opened in 1941 the prevailing philosophy in New Zealand child education was that education did not really start until children entered the formal, disciplinarian, school system. Playcentres instead recognised the value of early child education and specifically the educational value of child-initiated play.
Playcentre is indigenous to New Zealand, but is now also established in Japan.
Their mission is stated as "Whānau Tupu Ngātahi - Families growing together."
The movement started during the Second World War to provide a break for mothers as well as means to allow for the social development of the child within a cooperative environment. The first such playcentre was established in 1941 in the Wellington suburb of Karori. From the start each playcentre was a community driven initiative, organised by parents, utilising existing premises (e.g. church or community halls) and using parents as teachers. This allowed the easy spread of the movement, now encompassing over 450 centres around New Zealand and explains why they are the dominant provider of early childhood education in rural areas.
Gwen Somerset, Joan Wood, Inge Smithells and Beatrice Beeby were among the founders of the organisation.
The Playcentre model has been copied by groups in other countries, including the Japan Playcentre Association.
Playcentre was instrumental in introducing the concept of education through play and through child-initiated activities to the early childhood setting in New Zealand. This philosophy has since been adopted throughout all New Zealand early childhood education centres through the New Zealand national curriculum for early childhood education, Te Whāriki. They remain a champion of child-led non-structured play as the best form of education in early childhood.
The organisation believes that parents are the first and best educators of their children and children learn best when they initiate their learning through play (child-initiated play). Within the centres children and adults learn alongside each other, in agreement with the socio-cultural model of learning which posits that a child learns best when surrounded by trusted members of his or her community.
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Wikipedia