New Beginnings Preschool was one of six New Zealand early childhood centres participating in the first round of the Ministry of Education’s Centres of Innovation three-year research project. The hallmark of this research programme was action research led by participant teacher researchers. In this report, New Beginnings Preschool explored the ways in which visual arts and project work in the curriculum contributed to building a community of learners in this early childhood environment. Significant outcomes of the research include new understandings of the construction of identity, both individual and collective, within the Preschool community.
Purpose
The research question that guided the project at New Beginnings Preschool was: `In what ways can visual art and a project approach to curriculum contribute towards building a community of learners in New Beginnings Preschool?'