Jenny Ritchie

Professor Jenny Ritchie is a distinguished academic at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Education with over 35 years of experience as an education and critical early childhood studies scholar. She holds the position of Professor and is based in the Murphy Building on the Kelburn campus in Wellington, New Zealand.

Her educational background includes a DipNZFKU from Hamilton Teachers College and BSocSci, MEd(Hons), and PhD degrees from the University of Waikato. She serves on numerous editorial boards for international and New Zealand journals related to early childhood education and has guest-edited several special editions focusing on indigenous knowledge, sustainability, and children's rights.

Professor Ritchie's research focuses on critical early childhood studies, Te Tiriti o Waitangi education, social justice and citizenship education, and cultural, linguistic and ecological sustainability in education. Her work emphasizes relational pedagogy and approaches that support emotional wellbeing, with particular attention to Indigenous knowledge systems and decolonial approaches. She employs critical qualitative, ethnographic, and narrative methodologies in her research.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on climate change education, Indigenous knowledge systems, children's citizenship, language revitalization, and the intersection of Te Tiriti o Waitangi with early childhood education. These works reflect her commitment to addressing contemporary challenges through the lens of cultural sustainability, social justice, and ecological responsibility.

• Bloch Award from the International Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education Conference (2016)
• McKenzie Award from the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) (2022)

Professor Ritchie has supervised numerous doctoral and master's students, with recent completions including Sanam Maskey (2025), Helen McConnell (2024), and Helen Lane (2024). She teaches courses including Te Ao Hurihuri series, Tātaimarau 1: Te Whāriki, and The Early Years Debates. Her research has been supported by significant grants including the Spencer Foundation-funded study on young children's civic action and projects focused on Indigenous youth education aligned with UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal 4.

She is actively involved in international research collaborations, including projects on mobilizing Indigenous knowledge in early childhood education settings and exploring heritage languages of young children and families in Aotearoa New Zealand.