Emeritus Professor
ONZM BEdStud DipEdStud MA PhD(Well) DipTchg
Email helen.may@otago.ac.nz
Helen May trained as a primary school teacher in the mid-1960s and in her early career taught 5-6 year olds. Later, when Helen had her own children she worked in childcare and for five years was the Coordinator of the Victoria University crèche.
In 1987 Helen began work in teacher education at Hamilton Teachers' College and later the University of Waikato. During the early 1990s she worked with Margaret Carr, Sir Tamati and Lady Tilly Reedy on the development of Te Whāriki, the first national curriculum. In 1995 Helen was appointed to the first New Zealand professorial Chair in Early Childhood Education at Victoria University Wellington.
In 2005, she was appointed as Professor of Education and Head of Faculty of Education at the University of Otago, and from 2007–2011 was the Dean of the University of Otago College of Education.
She retired in 2016 and appointed an Emeritus Professor. Based in Wellington. Helen became an Adjunct Professor at Victoria University Wellington. She has recently shifted to Waikanae.
Helen May has spoken and published widely in the field of early childhood curriculum and the history and policy of early years education.
- 1990: NZ Medal for Services to Education
- 1990: Life Member NZ Childcare Association (Te Rito Maioha - Early Childhood Education)
- 2010: NZEI – Te Rui Roa Honorary Fellow Award
- 2016: New Year Honours: OMNZ for services to Education
Research Interests
Early childhood issues – policy, history, curriculum
Current research projects
Working with Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens writing a suite of history stories in celebration of 120 years in the Wellington. These will be released online during 2026 before a planned publication as a book.
Publications
Recent publications
- Making a noise for ECE 1963-2023-Te reo karanga mō ngā mokopuna, Wellington: Te Rito Maioha ECNZ, 2023
- Discoveries at the back of the Kindergarten Cupboard, (Eds.) T. Bruce, Y. Nishido, S. Powell, H. Wasmuth, & J. Whinnett, International Handbook of Froebelian Educational approach, scholarship and research, Bloomsbury, London, 2023, pp. 103-114.
- Joining the journey: A Prologue, in Cooper, M., Carrey Tik-Szi, S., Benson, M., Rockel, J. & Powell, S., Pedagogies of care with one-year olds: Exploring Froebelian Connections in four countries. Bloomsbury, London, 2025, pp. 1-5
Publications in progress
- Exclusion, autonomy and status: An historical overview of the politics of early childhood qualifications 1880s-1980s (Eds.) A. Gibbon, D. Hill-Denee and S. Stover, Ko tātou e hoe tonu ana: Steering the waka of early childhood teacher education through choppy seas. NZCER Press.
Memoir
- Secrets Searches and Surprises: Catherine Jubilee Robertson 1890-1979, Cyril Robertson Bradwell 1916-2008, Wellington, 2018
- Recollections of a Childhood in Kenya, The Red House, Wellington, 2021
- The crafts of cloth needle and thread: Nola's story, 'The Red House, 2024
Occasional papers
- Working for Children and Social Change: Tracing the endeavours of three Scottish lady teachers who immigrated to New Zealand in the early 20th century (with K Bethell), The Red House, Wellington, 2021 (with K Bethell)
- “Let’s Find Out” Reimagining the Young Child as a Research Worker 1920s-1960s, Occasional Paper 2, UK Froebel Trust Project: The “Researched” Child from the 1900s to the 1960s, July 2022
Selected early publications
Books published not listed below:
Mind That Child: Childcare as a Social and Political Issue in New Zealand, Blackberry Press, Wellington 1985, pp.95.
Minding Children: Managing Men: Conflict and Compromise in the Lives of Postwar Pakeha Women, Bridget Williams, Wellington, 1992, pp.371.
(With Sue Middleton). Teachers Talk Teaching 1915-1995, early childhood, school teachers college, Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1997, pp.380.
Publications
May, H., Card, A., & Carroll-Lind, J. (Eds.). (2021). Ngā kohinga kōrero a te aumangea: Kia mana te ara kōhungahunga ki Aotearoa: Life stories on the frontline: Growing a childcare movement in Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand. Edited Book - Research
Arce Hai, A., May, H., Nawrotzki, K., Prochner, L., & Valkanova, Y. (2020). Reimagining teaching in early 20th century experimental schools. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 256p. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-50964-4 Authored Book - Research
Middleton, S., & May, H. (Eds.). (2019). For women and children: A tribute to Geraldine McDonald. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER Press, 193p. Edited Book - Research
May, H. (2019). Politics in the playground: The world of early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand (3rd ed.). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 414p. Authored Book - Research
May, H., & Bethell, K. (2017). Growing a kindergarten movement in Aotearoa New Zealand: Its people, purposes and politics. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER, 323p. Authored Book - Research