"Over a two-year period Jane and James Ritchie and their colleagues interviewed the mothers of 151 four-year-olds representing all aspects of New Zealand society. As responsible social scientists they interviewed in depth, but the result of their research is not a dry treatise but an easily read analysis of a little recorded aspect of New Zealand society." -- inside book.

"Over a two-year period Jane and James Ritchie and their colleagues interviewed the mothers of 151 four-year-olds representing all aspects of New Zealand society. As responsible social scientists they interviewed in depth, but the result of their research is not a dry treatise but an easily read analysis of a little recorded aspect of New Zealand society." -- inside book.

Child-rearing practices in every society occur in accordance with the cultural norms of the society. In most societies, however, child-rearing practices share a common value: the preservation of life and maintenance of the health and well-being of a new-born infant. In this volume, the authors bring together salient issues regarding cultural beliefs and practices and social issues regarding infant care and child-rearing and infant feeding practices as well as early motherhood in different societies. They show that traditional practices surrounding infant care and child-rearing continue to live despite the fact that many societies have been modernised.

The authors of this book have been involved with research on the subject for 40 years, and previously wrote 'Child Rearing Patterns in New Zealand' (1970), 'Growing up in New Zealand' (1978), and many papers. This book updates their previous work, and is in three parts: A Generation of Research, Addressing the Issues, and The Next Generation.

Taking the body as a locus for discussion, Rachael S. Burke and Judith Duncan argue not only that implicit cultural practices shape most of the interactions taking place in early childhood curricula and pedagogy but that many of these practices often go unnoticed or unrecognized as being pedagogy. Current scholars, inspired by Foucault, acknowledge that the body is socially and culturally produced and historically situated—it is simultaneously a part of nature and society as well as a representation of the way that nature and society can be conceived. Every natural symbol originating from the body contains and conveys a social meaning, and every culture selects its own meaning from the myriad of potential body symbolisms. Bodies as Sites of Cultural Reflection in Early Childhood Education uses empirical examples from qualitative fieldwork conducted in New Zealand and Japan to explore these theories and discuss the ways in which children’s bodies represent a central focus in teachers’ pedagogical discussions and create contexts for the embodiment of children’s experiences in the early years.