Mō mātou | About us

We’re a small but mighty professional learning and development provider, based in Ōtepoti Dunedin in Aotearoa New Zealand, and we’re passionate about strengthening the rights-focused, mana-enhancing inclusive practice of early childhood kaiako.

Dr Kate McAnelly

For the most part, we’re a one woman army with our Lead Practitioner, Dr Kate McAnelly, at the helm. Kate’s proudly Waihōpai Invercargill born and bred, and completed her undergraduate early childhood teacher training at the University of Otago College of Education’s Southland campus there. She then got her teaching career underway locally alongside beginning her journey through postgraduate study, before eventually moving to Ōtepoti Dunedin with her whānau so she could undertake her PhD as an on-campus student.

Kate taught in early childhood throughout her PhD candidature, as well as in teacher education at different times as a tutor and lecturer. Becoming increasingly acquainted with sharing her developing research knowledge and expertise through authoring journal articles and book chapters, and presenting at local, national and international conferences, were a key feature of Kate’s experiences during this time. She graduated with her PhD - which explored how the early childhood learning environment supports the active participation of autistic children - in 2022, and decided to establish Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna as a means of continuing to share the kaupapa of equitable, inclusive early childhood education for all with early childhood kaiako around the motu. To that end, so far, Kate has worked with several teaching teams and individual early childhood kaiako to nurture, strengthen and sustain rights-focused, mana-enhancing inclusive practice - reflecting the intent of our national early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki - with the following six areas of empowering practice:

Whaikaha | disability
Ngā tau tānui mātau ā-wheako tairongo | diverse modes of sensory meaning-making
Tika tūāpapa mātauranga tōkeke | the right to an inclusive education
Tāera kōhungahunga tōkeke | inclusive early childhood pedagogy
Marautanga kōhungahunga tōkeke | inclusive early childhood curriculum
Hapori kōhungahunga tōkeke | inclusive early learning communities

Outside of her Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna mahi, Kate is a Regional Academic Staff Member with the Open Polytechnic's early childhood lecturing team, based in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Given that this is a full-time role, her capacity for Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna mahi is now much reduced from what it's been previously. However, it was extremely important to her that she continue contributing what she can to the kaupapa. Kate also keeps herself busy with presenting at conferences and writing for publication, paying it forward by acting as a reviewer for various early childhood and inclusive education journals, her mahi representing the right of ākonga whaikaha | disabled learners to an inclusive early childhood education as part of the Ministry of Education’s CEGAP (centre design, environmental factors and group size advisory panel) group which is working to enact Action 1.3 of He taonga te tamaiti – Every child a taonga: Early learning action plan 2019-2029 as well as the Teaching Council's Inclusive Education Capability Framework working group and last but certainly not least, parenting three rapidly growing, wonderful teenage children.

Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna is an interesting name, what’s its whakapapa?

Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna was originally a name gifted by a Ngāi Tahu kuia to Kate and her then PhD supervisor, now colleague and friend, Dr Michael Gaffney to use for a framework for inclusive early childhood education that they created as part of an article Rights, inclusion and citizenship: A good news story about learning in the early years which they had published in the International Journal of Inclusive Education in 2019. Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna can literally be translated as a space for all the children. However, te reo Māori is beautifully nuanced, so there's more of a story to tell. Tūranga also speaks to a holistic sense of belonging and place, of mokopuna (consistent with the reo in Te Whāriki) bringing and being their unapologetic, authentic selves. In addition to the plural version of 'the', ngā can also mean breathing freely and easily. So, taken together, Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna becomes something more expansive - a space for all children (and their families), where they feel seen, safe and secure, and where the diverse modes of being, doing and knowing that they bring to the table are valued as strengths and assets.

When it came time to deciding upon a name for the PLD not for profit she was intent on building and progressing post PhD, Kate was very keen as an early childhood teacher researcher in Aotearoa New Zealand on a journey of learning about and upskilling around te reo me ngā tikanga Māori courtesy of her participation in the Ministry of Education-led initiative Te Ahu o te reo Māori, that the not for profit have a name rooted in te reo Māori. However, none of the potential names that she came across really felt like they encapsulated the intended kaupapa of the not for profit. It was while she was in the thick of struggling to make her way in finding a name for the business that the same Ngāi Tahu kuia who’d gifted herself and Michael the name Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna for the framework invited Kate to use it again for her consultancy. Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna felt like a beautifully aligned ‘fit’, and so here we are.

Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna and the North East Valley Baptist Community Trust/Centre

While Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna is its own entity, it does its mahi under the banner of the North East Valley Baptist Community Trust who very generously agreed to ‘umbrella’ Kate so that Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna could be mentored as an emerging organisation, and find a physical home, the Valley Baptist Community Centre, within which to undertake its mahi, as well as be supported to access funding available through the Trust’s charitable status. This is why you might notice the domain name for Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna is @nevbctrust.org!

Any in-person events Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna may offer in the future will be held at the Valley Baptist Community Centre, which is a large community venue operated by the Trust and located in the friendly suburb of North East Valley, Dunedin. Tūranga mō ngā Mokopuna is incredibly grateful for the Trust’s ongoing belief, encouragement and support in so many different ways - ngā mihi maioha.

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