Foregrounding Indigenous Worldviews in Early Childhood (original) (raw)

Indigenous Australian perspectives in early childhood education [Taken from a keynote address at the Pacific Early-Childhood Education Research Association. International Conference (5th: 2004: Melbourne).]

Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 2004

A personal account of life experiences and research in relation to the concepts of respect, identity, relatedness and education offered by an Indigenous Australian woman reared by a non-Indigenous family in a non-Indigenous community. Western education philosophies-the goal of becoming the 'self-realised individual': the independent self who succeeds as powerful and autonomous-are comparatively analysed with Indigenous Australian education philosophies-the goal of becoming the 'related individual' to family, community and environmental resonance. Drawing on recent research initiated and conducted by Indigenous community organisations, Indigenous models for early childhood education are positioned as highly desirable for informing the future development of mainstream early childhood education policies.

When Old Is New: Exploring The Potential Of Using Indigenous Stories To Construct Learning In Early Childhood Settings

2007

Incorporating traditional indigenous stories in the Early Childhood Curriculum carries a powerful message of cultural diversity and change from the past denigration of Indigenous South-African and Aboriginal cultures to appreciation and reinstatement of such cultures today. Storytelling has the ability to create the right learning environment for early childhood students. In this paper a report is given of an exploratory study of the traditional South African and Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, which are seen as possible vehicles and innovations to educate students in Early Childhood in Australia and South Africa. These stories will also be used to find links with different Learning Areas in the Early Childhood Curriculum. Exemplars of such exercises are illustrated by means of the South-African, Wolf who wants to fly and Australian, Indigenous Bularool and the Bunyip (A Test of Wisdom) stories. The reason for working across two continents is that in South Africa, as well as Australia...

Building positive relationships with Indigenous children, families and communities: learning at the cultural interface

Drawing on the work of Martin Nakata, this paper brings into focus the everyday complexities involved in the cultural interfaces that educators, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, negotiate in order to promote children’s engagement with formal education processes. Analysis of emergent data from a recent evaluation of a preschool education programme operating in 35 rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia, revealed that educators struggle to situate their own knowledge and experiences in relation to the knowledge and experiences of others in both the educational and cultural contexts in which they work. A series of composite vignettes reporting the experiences of early childhood educators across these communities is used to examine the pedagogical opportunities available to educators when they are able to recognise the value of the knowledge and experience of all those involved in a child’s educational success.

A strong start for every indigenous child

OECD Education Working Papers, 2021

Box 1. Indigenous Languages Box 2. Dene Suline transitional immersion programme, Saskatchewan, Canada Box 3. Te Whāriki, Aotearoa New Zealand Box 4. Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Frameworkdevelopment process Box 5. First Peoples Principles of Learning Box 6. Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY), Australia Box 7. Early Years Centres (EYC), Queensland Box 8. First Nations and Inuit Child Care Initiative

Indigenous Knowledge in Early Childhood Education: Building a Nest for Reconciliation

Journal of Childhood Studies

This article is based on my dissertation study exploring how Indigenous knowledges were experienced by non-Indigenous students in an ECE diploma program at a Canadian college. Analysis of participants’ stories through the lens of critical pedagogy helped identify experiences with Indigenous knowledges and Reconciliation. Critical reflection on these experiences identified key findings: 1) the promise of transformative learning, 2) an acceptance of the truths and realities of Canadian history, and 3) the necessity of experiencing Indigenous knowledges. Through the metaphor of building a nest, I see transformative learning, truth telling, and inclusion of Indigenous knowledges as a path toward Reconciliation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples within early childhood education programs.

Indigenous Australian Perspectives in Early Childhood Education

International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, 2004

Marcelle Townsend - Cross delivered this keynote address at the 5th Annual International Conference of the Pacific and Early Childhood Education Research Association held in July this year at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. The Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood (CEIEC) hosted the 2004 PECERA conference.

Imagining possible worlds with young children, families, and teachers: sustaining indigenous languages and family pedagogies

Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2021

Editorial Introduction and Invited Commentaries Ko tōku reo, tōku ohooho; tōku reo, tōku māpihi maurea; tōku reo, tōku whakakai mārihi. This whakataukī (proverbial saying) was coined by Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, scholar and teacher extraordinaire of te reo Māori (and other languages) and Māori performing arts. The whakataukī speaks to the centrality of one's heritage language as being one's awakening; a language whose perfection countless generations have worked to nurture and pass on, and a language prized, priceless and prophetic. Language is the unique gift that enables the transference, through inter-and intra-generational relationships of thoughts, feelings and values to the real lives of past futures. Sir Tīmoti Kāretu captures the intensity of that importance to our lives as the whakataukī focuses on the human, emotive and symbolic significance of language to a good, free life. Likewise, this series of articles focusses on the importance of early literacies and the richness of young children's lives as they live in communion with their ancestral thoughts, their whānau and their futures. We pay particular attention to the pre-eminence of the transformative power of ancestral Indigenous languages to sharpen and to nurture into 'wokefulness'to treasure the imaginative mindful power of creation and to embrace with dignity our Indigenous languages as we would any other treasured items of affection.