Faculty of Education

Prof Carmen Dalli

Professor
School of Educational Psychology and Pedagogy
address

Phone: 04 463 5168
Fax: 04 463 9561
Location: Room 305, Gray Block, Karori Campus

Prof Carmen Dalli

Qualifications

PhD Well, MEd Brist, BA(Hons) Malta

Profile

Carmen started her academic career in the Department of Teaching the Early and Middle Years of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. She joined Victoria University of Wellington in 1986.

In 1994 Carmen was involved in the establishment of the Institute for Early Childhood Studies and has served as its Director for several years. In 2006 she became an Associate Director of the Jessie Hetherington Centre for Educational Research.

Carmen’s research combines an interest in developmental issues in the early years with a focus on early childhood policy and pedagogy. She has published widely in the field of early childhood teacher professionalism and has a particular interest in group-based early childhood education and care settings for children aged under three years.

She co-convenes a special interest group on early childhood professionalism within the European Early Childhood Research Association and is co-editor of the New Zealand Annual Review of Education.

Current Research

  • Coordinating director: Infants and toddlers as learners: Pedagogy in the first years. Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (2009-2010).
  • Lead investigator: Quality early childhood education for under-two year olds. A literature review. Funded by the Ministry of Education, 2009-2010.
  • Joint project coordinator with Professor Linda Miller, Open University, England and Dr Mathias Urban, University of East London. “A day in the life of an early years practitioner”: an international project involving researchers from 7 countries.
  • Project leader: Experiencing the early childhood curriculum: The well-being of children, their families and their teachers in NZ early childhood services.

I am interested in Infant and toddler pedagogy; infant and toddler learning; infant and toddler curriculum; starting childcare/ transition to early childhood education; professionalism in early years practice; early childhood policy; comparative early childhood education.

Publications