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(ECE) and they will tell you that relationships are at the heart of their pedagogy. Relationships are one of four key principles in the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996). The curriculum highlights that children learn through relationships and interactions. For teachers, their role involves not only supporting the relationships that children are developing, but also the professional and personal relationships they are building with colleagues, families and whānau, and children that are central to their daily work.

The important role of teacher–child relationships and teacher–family relationships has long been understood and established as a priority by teachers and researchers in early childhood (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Bronfenbrenner, 1986; Hamre & Pianta, 2001); moreover, recent braindevelopment research has reiterated the importance