Cultural competence—stories about work in progress Setting the scene Cultural competence, a Practice in the Early Years Learning
Framework (EYLF), is a complex concept that informs all aspects of
the operation of an early childhood setting. It is defined as: A set of congruent behaviours, attitudes and policies that come
together in a system, agency or among professionals that enable
them to work together effectively in cross-cultural settings. (Tong
and Cross in VACCA 2008, quoted on p. 23, in the Educators’
Guide to the EYLF, p. 21).
All seven Quality Areas in the National Quality Standard (NQS)
require cultural competence, particularly those aspects of
practice that relates directly to interactions, communication and
relationships with children, families and colleagues.
Cultural competence includes:
ƒ being aware of your own culture and world views and how
they influence your practice
ƒ respecting and valuing different ways of knowing, seeing
and living
ƒ honoring differences Note: This e-Newsletter builds on information in several
publications:
ƒ Department of Education Employment and Workplace
Relations (DEEWR) (2010). ‘Cultural competence’ and
‘The Journey for educators: Growing competence in
working with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander cultures’, Educators belonging, being and becoming:
Educators’ guide to the Early Years Learning Framework for
Australia. Canberra, ACT: DEEWR.
ƒ Goodwin, J. (2012). Indigenous culture: It’s everybody’s
business. Every Child, 18(1) p. 3.
ƒ Connor, J. (2011). Understanding cultural competence. ECA
EYLF PLP e-Newsletter, No.7.
If you are beginning to explore cultural competence and what
it means for your work, you may want to review these articles
before reading this e-Newsletter.
ƒ appreciating the centrality of culture in children’s belonging,
being and becoming
ƒ continually learning about different cultural practices and world
views
ƒ supporting and encouraging children’s developing cultural
competence
ƒ learning to communicate in effective and respectful ways with
people from diverse cultural backgrounds. (Adapted from EYLF, p. 16) The term ‘culture’ encompasses not only ethnicity, but also other
dimensions of identity and the ways we live our lives:
What is culture? Culture can be defined as ‘what we create
beyond our biology’. Not given to us, but made by us (Williams,
in MacNaughton, 2003, p. 14). Using this definition, culture
incorporates the scope of human diversity and ways of being,
such as gender, ethnicity, class, religions, ability, age, and sexuality.
(DEEWR, 2010, p. 22). 2The practice of cultural competence
Let’s look at four examples of educators striving for cultural
competence in three broad interconnected areas of practice:
ƒ Curriculum
ƒ Collaborating with families
ƒ Using your cultural competence to support other educators.
As you read the stories, reflect on how they demonstrate cultural
competence.
Practice example 1: Engaging children in Reconciliation
A centre, which has no Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
children enrolled, is beginning to think about how to
contribute to Reconciliation. This story focuses on curriculum
content that opens up discussion and action relating to
Reconciliation issues.
Patrick asked if I could read to him. I showed him some of the
books I had chosen from the library. He selected The Rabbits, by
John Marsden and Shaun Tan. Using surreal illustrations and
simple but poignant text, The Rabbits tells the story of the first
Australians and the coming of the Europeans, with kangaroos
and rabbits as the protagonists. It addresses issues related to land
rights and the Stolen Generation. I know using this book with
young children is controversial, but I made it available as I was
curious to see how they would respond.
Patrick was immediately interested in the illustrations,
commenting that the ship looked like the ones in the book
about Captain Cook. I found the book he was referring to and he
compared the ships, which were very similar.
As I read, Patrick studied the illustrations and asked questions. The
story had a powerful impact on him, and over several days we
read it 11 times at his request! Patrick suggested that the kangaroos might live in Australia. He
was unsure why the rabbits kept coming and why they ‘don’t
listen to the kangaroos’. He noticed that the rabbits were chopping
down lots of trees and commented, ‘We need trees to get our
food’. Each reading prompted more comments and questions.
I explained that the book related to the story of Aboriginal
Australians. We recollected our previous work on Captain
Cook and how the Indigenous Australians lived here before the
Europeans arrived. Patrick commented on the kangaroos’ sad
faces. On the last page of the book, the question is asked, ‘Who will
help save us from all these rabbits?’ Patrick suggested, ‘Maybe
Spiderman could come, or all the superheroes. They could swoop
down and get all of the rabbits’. Another child asked what was
happening in the book. ‘The baby kangaroos are being taken
from their families. They are sad aren’t they?’ explained Patrick. He
continued, ‘All the rabbits destroy the kangaroos. They need to stop
being mean to the kangaroos. All the superheroes need to come’. Reflections
The story is a very powerful one about big issues. Patrick spent a
long time exploring the text—examining the different perspectives
and analyzing meanings. He showed real concern for fairness, as
well as expressing empathy with the kangaroos.
What next?
This book has fascinated many of the children. We will look at it
again, as it has raised many interesting issues. We will talk about
Reconciliation and what we can do. It is important to give the children the opportunity to answer the
final question in the book. Leaving them with a sad story could
be upsetting. Empowering them with opportunities to make a
difference and to be active members of the community is essential.
We must continue to find ways to embed knowledge and
understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and
culture within the centre. We have been looking at and comparing the Aboriginal flag
and the Australian flag. This has led children to ask, ‘Does the
Australian flag represent everyone living in Australia?’ Rufus,
Jasper, Meriam and Lucy have made an Aboriginal flag for our
room. Ruby, Liam, Patrick and Jack were inspired by the colors of
the flag and painted stones in red, yellow and black. We displayed
these for children to use in an open-ended way, alongside a copy
of The Rabbits. We plan to encourage the children to design and make a flag that
represents all Australians.
Because we enjoy books so much, we collected money from
our families to buy children’s books to donate to the Aboriginal
Literacy Foundation. A small group of children delivered them to
the Foundation. This was an empowering experience, as it gave
the children an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of
other children.
Karen and Michelle, Gowrie Docklands, Melbourne. 3Practice example 2: Incorporating family culture
Janani, a family day care educator, noticed that Bodhi, 18 months
old, always placed his hands over his food before eating. She
thought it was one of those mysterious things toddlers do— perhaps part of his exploration of food. When she mentioned it to
his parents they said that before every meal they place their hands
over the food and offer a blessing. Janani said, ‘Bodhi’s parents
helped me make sense of something I would never have figured
out the meaning of by myself ‘. Janani asked the parents if they
would share the blessing with her. It is:
Thank you to the farmers who worked in the field planting
and harvesting the food for our meal. Thank you to the sun and rain that helped the food to grow. Thank you to the sky and the earth below. Peace on earth, health to all our families and friends, and
blessings on our meal. Janani decided that this blessing could be meaningful for all the
children. It doesn’t reflect a particular religious perspective and
discussing it would help children consider a number of issues.
She uses the blessing each day that Bodhi and his younger sister
attend, which his family appreciates.
Practice example 3: Incorporating a family’s wishes
Rukmini is the director of a service that includes families and
staff from many different cultural, language and religious
backgrounds. For the past three years they have celebrated the
end of Ramadan with an afternoon tea for the whole service
community. Rukmini says that it is now a tradition that everyone
looks forward to.
A family asked permission to give all the children sweets or
lollies, as is the custom at the end of Ramadan. The center has a
policy of providing all food—that is, not allowing any food from
outside—and also giving children only healthy food. The staff
wanted to honor this family’s generous offer but also adhere to
their policies. They discussed the policy with the family who had
made the offer and reached a compromise that all were happy
with. The center would take responsibility for providing special
treats for the children and would make it clear at the afternoon
tea that the special treats were being provided because this family
wanted children to have them. The family wrote children’s names
in Arabic on the packets of treats and presented them to each
child. Rukmini adds that the event was very successful and she and the
staff are reflecting on ways to improve the quality of such events.
She said, ‘I can’t tell you how many people came and enjoyed
themselves, and they were all blown away by the family and
the sharing!’
The next two examples illustrate culturally sensitive collaboration
with families that enriches the experience of all children. 4The NQS Professional Learning Program is funded by the
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Brought to you by Practice example 4: Respect and inclusion
This example illustrates how important it is for professionals
who provide support and resources to other educators to be
culturally competent and respectful.
One of the roles of the Family Day Care Association Queensland
is supporting schemes to provide good-quality experiences for
children. They are currently working with several schemes in
Brisbane involving educators with an African background. Peta, the Executive Manager, says that this experience is
providing the Association with many exciting challenges. ‘We’re
basing our work on the fundamental values of our organization
and the big ideas in the EYLF. We place a lot of value on respect
and inclusion. We want to support all educators and not just
say “you’re not good enough to be an educator so you’re out”.
We want to empower these women, many of whom have
experienced trauma and have come from war-torn countries. ‘Our job is to offer educators support and resources to be
successful in their work. We’re always clear that ultimately we
want to empower educators to provide wonderful learning
environments for children. We’ve had to take a step back and
think first about how we can help these educators in their lives as
family and community members. We’re adopting a community
development approach. We started by asking them what they
needed. As a result we’re working at the scheme level to link them
to other community services that can support them and their
families. We’re mindful of the fact that eventually we should
step away, and we want them to have strong connections in the
community.’
Peta says that this experience has encouraged her organization
to look critically at their policies, procedures and ways of working,
with the aim of eliminating obstacles for schemes and educators
from different cultures and language backgrounds.
Conclusion Hopefully these stories will prompt you to think about how your
cultural competence and that of your colleagues can make a
positive difference in all aspects of your practice.
It is important to acknowledge that cultural competence is
always a work in progress. New challenges occur throughout our
professional lives. What matters is that we continue to learn. As
Michelle advises: ‘If you’re feeling hesitant about doing something,
just have a go. If your intentions are genuine you’ll be right!’
While, as mentioned earlier, ‘cultural competence’ pervades
all relationships and programs encompassed by the NQS, it is
particularly pertinent to Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships
with families and communities. The questions to guide reflection
for Standard 6, on p. 148 –149 of the Guide to the National Quality
Standard, offer a valuable springboard for educators to review
current attitudes, values and practices. Anne Stonehouse
Newsletter author References
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) (2011). Guide to
the National Quality Standard. Sydney, NSW: ACECQA.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2009).
Belonging, being and becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
Canberra, ACT: DEEWR. Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2010).
Educators belonging, being and becoming: Educators’ guide to the Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia. Canberra, ACT: DEEWR. Marsden, J, and Tan, S. (2000). The Rabbits. Melbourne, Vic: Lothian Books Acknowledgements:
Rukmini Bose-Nathan, Director, Monash (Caulfield) Child Care Centre, Melbourne
Michelle Gudjer, Manager Children’s Program and Karen Boson, Educator, Gowrie
Docklands—Melbourne
Peta McNellie, Executive Director, Family Day Care Association Queensland
Janani Nathan, Educator, Glen Eira Family Day Care scheme.
Coordinating Editor Jenni Connor wrote the e-Newsletter series in 2011 and is responsible for liaising
with authors and overseeing the production of the 2012 series.