CHCIC511A: Implement and promote inclusive policies and practices
Support the development of inclusive practices in the service
Contents
Plan and implement programs that reflect inclusive principles and value diversity
What are inclusive principles?
Programs reflecting inclusive practices and diversity
How can we plan and implement inclusive programs that value diversity?
Avoiding the ‘tourist’ approach
Develop and implement anti-bias philosophy, policies and procedures
Legislation
Developing a written philosophy, policies and procedures
Communication and consultation
Developing a policy
Construct the environment to convey images of diversity among children and families
Learning about the child
Implementing an inclusive program
Communicating in cross-cultural situations
What about celebrations?
Involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in learning
Use information about the range of different abilities, cultural values, beliefs and child-rearing practices to guide child-care practices
Cultural values and beliefs
Gathering information from families
Provide information to others about inclusive principles
Providing information to staff or colleagues
Regularly identify, evaluate and develop inclusive practices
Identify any current practices which allow bias and develop strategies to address bias
How we can develop critical thinking?
Developing strategies that address bias
Plan and implement programs that reflect inclusive principles and value diversity
What are inclusive principles?
Anne Paul (2001) states that anti-bias principles in an early childhood service require that the service:
• reflects the diversity of the local community and country in which we live
• is concerned with including all children and families in all aspects of the program, whatever their background.
You may have noticed that Paul uses the term ‘anti-bias’, instead of ‘inclusive’. The use of this term is quite common and the two terms are interchangeably used.
The concept of ‘inclusive practices’ provides a framework for bringing inclusion to life.
Inclusive practices are the things we do every day to make it possible for children to be successfully included in children’s services.
Are culture and inclusive practices related?
Yes! However, when we are referring to culture in this context we think of everyone as having an individual culture, not a collective group or country of people.
Some important points to understand:
• Everyone has a culture. We all have similarities and differences.
• There are individual differences within each culture.
• Culture is not merely a group of objects that are representative of a country or group of people. For example, chopsticks do not represent the Chinese culture nor do boomerangs represent Aboriginal cultures.
• Culture is about how a group of people live life, the ‘set of rules for behaviour by which people organise and give meaning to the world’. (Hopson 1990)
• Culture is a learned behaviour—in other words, it is not something we are born with. For example, a child who is born in one country but adopted by a family in a different country will grow adopting the culture of the country in which he or she is raised.
• Often people assume that Australia is an Anglo, white society and therefore believe it is appropriate that children should all be taught in the same way and all celebrate the same festivals. But we know this isn’t true.
• Australia has over 200 different languages spoken, including more than 60 different Indigenous languages (ABS, 2003). Even if you live in a fairly Anglo-Australian dominated area, you will still be surrounded by differences.
Programs reflecting inclusive practices and diversity
What else do we need to consider if we are to have programs that reflect inclusive practices and diversity?
If we refer back to the definition given by Anne Paul we can see we need to consider:
• children
• families
• community
• country.
Children
While it may seem an obvious thing to say, every child is an individual.
What we need to remember and actively promote is that each child brings unique qualities, abilities and differences with them to our service. By building partnerships with families we can gain an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of each child and celebrate that within our program.
Families
How do we go about building the partnerships with families? Research has shown that children significantly benefit when their families and the centre staff having a strong relationship (Faires 2000).
If you want to read more about family partnerships, have a look at the NSW Curriculum Framework (the link is provided in the resources list).
What exactly is a partnership? Stonehouse (2001) notes that a partnership (in this context) is quite similar to a business partnership or a personal relationship. She notes the following characteristics are present:
• mutual respect
• trust
• sensitivity to the perspective of the other
• ongoing open ‘both-ways’ communication
• common goals that are clear and agreed on (the child’s well-being)
• teamwork, absence of rivalry or competition
• equality, fairly equal distribution of power
• recognition and valuing of the unique contribution and strengths of the partner
• shared decision-making.
Families have a lot to offer for programs.
By communicating with families, using many different styles of communication, we can incorporate family strengths and passions into our programs. Imagine how exciting it would be to find out that some of the families could play a musical instrument; or could tell the local Dreamtime stories; or had a love of cooking food from a particular culture! Wouldn’t the program become more rewarding and enriching for everyone?!
It is also very beneficial for children to have their fathers involved in the service. It is great for role modelling and research has also shown health and well-being benefits for the children (Fathers and Families Research Program 2008). For great ideas on how to involve fathers see Newcastle University’s ‘Involving Fathers in Early Childhood Services’ website at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/research-centre/fac/research/fathers/involving-fathers/
If we refer back to the children and families in the scenarios above (Activity), let’s look at what we would need to consider when building partnerships with each of these families. It is probably helpful to have another read through just to refresh your memory.
Here are some ideas on how you could build a partnership with each family.
Christopher:
• We need to ensure that our communication with this family is not just verbal or limited to displays in the service. Christopher’s dad would probably never come into the service. Of course that doesn’t mean he isn’t interested in finding out what is happening. A written newsletter could be distributed, either in hard copy or emailed to work.
• Staff would also need to develop a strong partnership with the extended family, to relay any important information in the afternoon.
• We could see if Christopher’s grandparents were able to assist staff in learning a few key words in Spanish. This would help to promote Christopher’s cultural roots.
• Social occasions could be organised on weekday evenings. Perhaps a family night that promotes the program (i.e., showing documentation; portfolios etc followed by a light supper would be a means for Christopher’s family to meet other families and also get to find out what is happening in the service.
Luke:
• Where there has been a family or marital separation, staff need to be very aware of treating both parents equally. Of course, this would be different if there was a restraining order in place. Luke, however, spends equal time with both parents who have chosen to remain in the same suburb to provide easy access for Luke. The best way for staff to determine the communication process would be to speak with both parents and find out what they want. When sending written information to this family, it would be best to send a copy to each parent.
• Because Luke’s mum works part-time, she may be able to spend some time in the service in the morning assisting in the transition for Luke.
Analiesse:
• We definitely need to work with the family or extended family to learn key Koori words.
• The family could also be invited to be actively involved in the celebrations and customs relating to their cultural background. Recipes, songs and traditions could be shared. Analiesse’s grandmother or auntie, family/mob may be willing to come into the service and help with these.
• As Analiesse’s dad is a chef and mainly works in the evening, he could be encouraged to come into the service in the morning and spend time with his daughter if he wanted. Or he may like to cook some foods with the children.
Respecting the level of involvement of each family
As you probably already know, we need to respect the level of contribution each family can make. It should not be judged or seen as competitive—each family can contribute. A good early childhood educator knows how to encourage this! Providing opportunities and tailoring events to suit particular families are all part of the job!
Let’s take another look at the definition by Paul, just to refresh our memories.
Anne Paul (2001) states:
Anti-bias principles in an early childhood service requires that service to reflect the diversity of the local community and country in which we live and should be concerned with including all children and families in all aspects of the program, whatever their background.
Remember that Paul’s definition says that our services need to reflect the diversity of the entire country—including that of the local community. If you take Australia as a whole, there is a great deal of diversity. Remember, when we talk about diversity, we mean diversity in many aspects of life, e.g., culture, language, family structure, experiences, abilities, social and economic levels, and political affiliations etc. So even if the local community in which we work is not as diverse as many other communities, we need to take into account the diversity of Australia as a whole. We especially need to expose the children to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture as they are the ‘first Australians’ and so are an important part of every Australian’s culture.
There following points are some barriers to families being involved in a service:
• Discrimination and negative attitudes of staff can obviously limit family involvement.
• Institutionalised and impersonal services may leave families thinking that their input does not count for anything.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may be fearful and shy about talking to non-Aboriginal professionals who they see as being authority figures. Families who have been affected by ‘the stolen generation’ have a very real fear of their children being taken by authorities too.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may feel confusion about professional procedures, the language professional’s use, or the ways problems are discussed.
• Typical questions asked by service providers might be seen as being embarrassing and actually insensitive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We have covered children and families. Let’s take a look at community now.
Community
Paul also mentions in her definition that we need to consider community and country when we consider inclusive principles.
So, what sort of information should we consider?
Arthur et al (2005) suggest we collect information and consider the following the points:
• What are the main cultural and linguistic groups represented within the community?
• Who are the local Aboriginal people, their culture and local sites?
• What is the predominant socio-economic status?
• Is the area urbanised, light industrial, rural?
• What kind of stores are in the community? Do they represent the major cultural groups?
• Determine the cultural background of the families and staff connected with the service.
• What range of religious and spiritual beliefs is held in this community?
All of the above information will impact on the program.
We have now looked at what early childhood educators must consider when planning an inclusive program.
How can we plan and implement inclusive programs that value diversity?
Programs
A program is best described as a series of provisions for children. The program can incorporate individual children, small groups as well as the entire group. Staff actively observe the children and collaborate on what learning experiences are best suited to these children.
Staff would always consider the following:
• age and developmental abilities of the children
• interests and explorations the children currently have
• centre routine
• centre environment and available resources
• environment and resources of the local community
• family expectations, skills and interests
• service philosophy and policies
• governing legislation.
Hopson (1990) notes that most childcare centres have many resources for children, but these often reflect white, middle class, able-bodied people in stereotypic gender roles (eg the firefighters are all men and the women do the cooking). She says that the challenge for services is to ‘provide in developmentally appropriate ways, opportunities that demonstrate an acceptance and respect for cultural diversity, non able bodied people in non-stereotypical gender roles.’
Let’s consider the following scenario.
Soo-Ja is working in a large preschool that is licensed and operated by a church. The preschool is located next to the local public school and is opposite a small shopping centre, including a library. Other shops include a supermarket, travel agent, bank and café.
The preschool caters for 60 children per day, all aged between 3-5 years. There are three rooms, each with 20 children. The service employs an additional needs teacher (full-time) who works with a number of children and families. The centre has been working towards an emergent curriculum style of programming, that is, where all staff contribute to observing the children and plan provisions daily based on these observations.
Soo-Ja is from Korea. The other staff are all Anglo-Australian. The local community is middle class and represents a reasonably high socio-economic status.
Soo-Ja really enjoys her work, especially programming based on children’s observations. Her only frustration at this time is that the program doesn’t really reflect inclusion or diversity.
Last week, the children displayed a keen interest in transport and reading maps. Soo-Ja and her colleagues talked to the children about transport and they decided to set up a transport area in the block corner. Soo-Ja also photocopied pages from the street directory. These pages showed the local area, including the location of the preschool.