Role

Josh is a Lecturer | Kaiako at Te Rito Maioha, teaching across initial teacher education programmes in early childhood education. His role focuses on supporting tauira to develop confident, reflective, and mana-enhancing teaching practice, grounded in Te Whāriki, bicultural commitments, and contemporary ECE contexts.

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Education Background

Josh began his career in early childhood education as an unqualified kaiako and has since worked across a range of ECE settings alongside completing undergraduate and postgraduate study at Victoria University of Wellington. During his studies, he cocreated a tauira-led club focused on sector advocacy and support for emerging kaiako, and he now brings experience as a practising kaiako, lecturer, and facilitator of professional development.

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Research Background

Josh’s doctoral research explores empowerment and whakamana in early childhood education, with a particular focus on how these concepts are enacted in everyday practice. He is especially interested in relational pedagogy, mana-enhancing practice, and how kaiako navigate power, care, and responsibility in ECE settings.

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Teaching Interests

His teaching is grounded in mana-based, empowering, and reflective approaches, with a strong emphasis on whanaungatanga, playfulness, and learning through experience. Josh is motivated by the belief that every tamariki carries a unique mana and deserves opportunities to thrive, and he is passionate about supporting tauira to grow in confidence, professional identity, and ethical practice in Aotearoa.

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Recent Publications

Allen, J., & Gray, R. (2022, Spring). Rituals in ECE: Our Sacred Moments to Empower and Self-regulate. The Space Magazine, Issue 69.