Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia emphasises that children's own identity is constructed within their given context of family and community. This article presents the findings of a multiple case study project undertaken within five remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern T...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland
2015-04-01
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| Series: | The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education |
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| Online Access: | https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/143 |
| _version_ | 1797963708544057344 |
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| author | Marguerite Maher Lisa Buxton |
| author_facet | Marguerite Maher Lisa Buxton |
| author_sort | Marguerite Maher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia emphasises that children's own identity is constructed within their given context of family and community. This article presents the findings of a multiple case study project undertaken within five remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. Community Elders were concerned that while their children had a positive sense of self during their prior-to-school years, on entry into formal schooling they experienced a disjuncture between those experiences and the expectations of a Western curriculum. The project involved partnering one university academic to work with each community, exploring ways of improving 4-year-old children's pre-reading and numeracy skills to enhance their capacity to engage with expectations on entry into formal schooling. Elders were determined to have the children be successful at school and saw success there as inextricably interwoven with their sense of efficacy to explore and to learn. Outcomes included positives such as children demonstrating increased pre-reading and numeracy skills and, importantly, the engagement of the whole community in the project. Foundational to the success was making Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing key components of learning opportunities provided to the children, supporting awareness of their social and cultural heritage.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:32:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-629e79cd1bcb4091b7e5f5666131d1f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-7784 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:32:30Z |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-629e79cd1bcb4091b7e5f5666131d1f42023-01-03T09:23:09ZengAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of QueenslandThe Australian Journal of Indigenous Education2049-77842015-04-0144110.1017/jie.2015.5Early Childhood Education at the Cultural InterfaceMarguerite Maher0Lisa Buxton1University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia emphasises that children's own identity is constructed within their given context of family and community. This article presents the findings of a multiple case study project undertaken within five remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. Community Elders were concerned that while their children had a positive sense of self during their prior-to-school years, on entry into formal schooling they experienced a disjuncture between those experiences and the expectations of a Western curriculum. The project involved partnering one university academic to work with each community, exploring ways of improving 4-year-old children's pre-reading and numeracy skills to enhance their capacity to engage with expectations on entry into formal schooling. Elders were determined to have the children be successful at school and saw success there as inextricably interwoven with their sense of efficacy to explore and to learn. Outcomes included positives such as children demonstrating increased pre-reading and numeracy skills and, importantly, the engagement of the whole community in the project. Foundational to the success was making Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing key components of learning opportunities provided to the children, supporting awareness of their social and cultural heritage. https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/143cultural interfaceearly childhood educationremote Aboriginal communities |
| spellingShingle | Marguerite Maher Lisa Buxton Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education cultural interface early childhood education remote Aboriginal communities |
| title | Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface |
| title_full | Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface |
| title_fullStr | Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface |
| title_short | Early Childhood Education at the Cultural Interface |
| title_sort | early childhood education at the cultural interface |
| topic | cultural interface early childhood education remote Aboriginal communities |
| url | https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/143 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT margueritemaher earlychildhoodeducationattheculturalinterface AT lisabuxton earlychildhoodeducationattheculturalinterface |