Wednesday
4th January 2022
Inclusive practice, what is it? Why is it so important in Childcare? How do I embed it in my service? These are just some of the questions I have been asked over the years as an Educational Leader and someone who focuses on Inclusive Practice.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines Inclusive as: An inclusive group or organization tries to include many different types of people and treat them all fairly and equally. It further defines Practice as: something that is usually or regularly done, often as a habit, tradition, or custom. In short, in respect to the Early Childhood Sector, it's about making our services more accessible and welcoming to everyone regardless of their backgrounds. The question still remains, why is this so important? Allow me to explain with a few different scenarios.
Around 65,000 years ago, the first Australians landed on our shores from around the islands of Southeast Asia. They came to this country we now know as Australia when the sea levels were at a lower point and the land between Australia and New Guinea was less of a challenge to travel across by sea. Indigenous Australian's lived off the land and the oceans surrounding the country eating berries, fish and land animals that they hunted with their tools that they made with their hands using what was available on the land. They set up communities and passed down stories from the Elders through dreamtime stories and Aboriginal Paintings left behind in caves and walls so that their rich culture was passed down through the generations of Aboriginal children who one day would become the Elders of those same communities.
Just over 200 years ago, the British landed on the once peaceful Aboriginal homelands and set about setting up a colony where they could send their convicts. In the process of this, the British cleared and destroyed vast amounts of lands, slaughter countless Aborigines and as was popular at the time with the British, use indigenous people as Slaves. They Raped and pillaged what they could from the Aboriginals and forced them to live under their rules.
I often use this as an example for children when I try and explain what that would be like in a way that the children can understand. "It's kind of like me turning up at your house and telling you that this is now my place, and you can't live here anymore. You and your family who have been living here for years now have to move and you also have to live by the rules I tell you. How does that make you feel?" The answer is the same every time, Sad!
Children have a way of understanding things more than we give them credit for at times. They are influenced by those around them including their families and peers. For too many years when I was growing up, I was taught to believe that the Aboriginals were nothing but an excuse to make fun of. There were a whole host of Aborigine jokes that I now cringe over even thinking of uttering them to others. One of them doing the rounds was that Aboriginals were referred to as boongs because that was the sound, they made when hitting a car bumper. You see, we all believed because that's all we knew that the Aboriginals spent most of their days walking the streets in a drunken stupor and cars would often hit them on dole day as they cashed their dole payment. Obviously, highly offensive but again, this is how many of us grew up with the influences around us. Thankfully, my views have changed dramatically over time.
It strikes me as odd that we claim to be the lucky country and welcome anyone and everyone to our country to build a better life, but the reality is, that many people are still stuck in the past and afraid of what they don't understand. Deep down, there is a horrible racist undertone in this country and sadly, it's in own Parliments with some of our politicians being the worst offenders. I consider myself a person that is Inclusive of all cultures and many times over the years I have heard horror stories from other Educators that have come here from other countries to build a better life for themselves and their families only to be told that their qualifications are not good enough and get treated like outsiders from the get-go. They are taunted with racist remarks and in some cases it's almost a case in some services that it's the white Australians on one side and the multi-cultural Australians on the other side. I have seen less qualified white Australians promoted over more qualified Indian Australian's. I had once had an Asian Educator tell me that she was so sadden at being considered as different from Anglo Australian's that she was going to have an operation on her eyes to make herself appear more westernised. Unfortunately, there are many more stories like these I've heard over the years and sadly things are not getting better.
We as Educators have a chance to change this by teaching our children to be accepting and more tolerant of different cultures instead of fearing them. Incorporate cultural events into your program's curriculum. Embrace different languages, foods, customs and traditions. Focus on the children in your room, find out what their family backgrounds and talk about the countries that their families come from. Get the parents involved and invite them in to talk about experiences and places from their childhood.
We also need to do better at acknowledging Aboriginal Culture than just recognising it only during NAIDOC week and Sorry day. We need to be embedding it into the center and its philosophy but how do we do that? Get in contact with the Elders in your area. Don't know where to start, begin with your local council. They will point you in the right direction. Looking into PD courses that teach how to incorporate an Aboriginal Perspective while respecting the culture. I can suggest getting in contact with Jessica Staines and her amazing Koori Curriculum. There are also some amazing resources from MTA and Educating kids from floor mats that have all the different Mobs scattered around Australia to some beautiful Dreamtime stories. It is so important to explore this rich and beautiful culture from its music, dancing and stories. It's all simple things that can be done.
Of course, there is another group that we need to include in our look at Inclusive practice. The LGBTQI community. Why you ask? Kids don't need to hear about that. I don't want them pushing the agenda on my child. The truth is, that no one is trying to push any agenda on anyone. The simple fact is that more and more same sex families are enrolling their children in daycare. There are more Educators and people in the general community that are finding the courage to step out of the closet and revealing that they are Transgender. The simple fact is that children are bound to run into at some time someone from the LGBTQI community and they need to be given the tools on how to negotiate that interaction. Gone are the days, in this country at least that people are locked up for the sexuality.
Like all these different minority groups, they have been judged, persecuted and mistreated in the past and we have the power to change that by incorporating Inclusive Practice into our curriculums.
