CHCIC302A: Support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families to participate in children’s services
Support the cultural identity of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and families
Warning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are respectfully advised that the material in this Unit and outside web pages may contain images, voices and names of deceased people. This material is also culturally sensitive. NSW TAFE regrets any distress this may cause.
Acknowledgements
Content provided by:
Rebecca Evans, Teacher, Child and Family Studies, TAFE NSW
Sigrid Herring/ Jenny Khan, Teachers, Children’s Services, TAFE NSW
Mary Jacobs, Teacher, Child Studies, TAFE NSW
Contents
Support the cultural identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families 3
Identify culturally-sensitive ways to process information with appropriate relevant people 3
Process information in a culturally-sensitive way, including identification of how and with whom information can be shared 8
Demonstrate respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in the workplace context 9
Suggested resources 12
Support the cultural identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families
Identify culturally-sensitive ways to process information with appropriate relevant people
Understanding diversity of culture and language
It’s important to remember that while we can compare cultures we can’t judge 'a society of people adapts its culture to changing environments. Remember that the diversity of Aboriginal people today will mean that Aboriginal people will identify the values and norms expressed here in a variety of ways, as will non-Aboriginal families.
It’s important to remember that Aboriginal culture had completely different norms and values to the invading colonialists who did not believe that Aboriginal culture had anything to offer them, neither culturally, materially, economically, nor politically.
Source: Australian Dept Education, Science and Training Interactive ochre (2006)
Cultural components
Following is a series of tables showing a comparison between Aboriginal and British/Australian cultures. Listed beneath each cultural component is a strategy for:
• working with Aboriginal children in a way that enables them to achieve their potential
• supporting Aboriginal children to value and maintain their culture and language
• increasing the understanding of staff and others about issues that affect Aboriginal families
• things that you can put into place that might resolve issues that arise due to differing attitudes to child care and child rearing.
Cultural component: LanguageAboriginal / British / Australian
At least 500 separate language groups.
Language is present and past oriented.
Each language maintains a huge non-verbal vocabulary – signing. signalling, gesturing, facial expressions.
Language—Oral and symbolic through representation in art and dance. / English, Gaelic (though we can note here that the English banned the use of Gaelic in countries like Wales and Ireland and demanded that British subjects only speak English. The Irish established ‘hedge schools’ and would sneak their children into the countryside and teach them their Gaelic language and culture behind hedges).
Language is oral and written.
Strategy
Consult with the local Aboriginal community or Aboriginal families coming to your centre and see if you can use some of their language words for things like body parts and to play ‘Simon says’. See if those language words will fit into popular songs such as ‘Where is thumkin?’. Change the names of characters in stories/names of dolls etc to Aboriginal names. Accept children’s use of Aboriginal English.
Cultural component: Economy
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Subsistence culture; communal living from the land; hunting and gathering; obligations to care for all community. / Survival of the fittest, capitalism, new technology, trade, moral obligation to care for others.
Strategy
Take children/mob out for a ‘walkabout’ with ‘dilly bags ‘ to discover /collect bush foods.
Cultural component: Education
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Imitation, oral culture, children taught according to kinship place and level of maturity, everyone responsible for teaching to young people; young people go through a process of initiation to determine readiness for new knowledge, informal relationship between teacher and learner. / Formal, structured, opportunity based on social class and sex though more equity recently, formal relationships between teacher and learner.
Strategy
Let parents know education in Aboriginal culture can be characterised by non-directive play with real tools, teachers and children both modelling play behaviour and playing alongside and that you will be organising play time with limited props and concentrating on getting children to interact appropriately with other in wide age range situations.
Cultural component: Sacred aspects
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Ancestral spirits live in special places on the land, food sources, animals, birth and burial places and mourning places. The Land holds the spirit of the ancestors, food sources, and birth and burial places. Sacred/secret sites are vital to the maintenance of traditions, central to the knowledge of creation; destruction means a denial of passage to a person’s rightful home in the hereafter. / Churches, burial sites.
Strategy
Cultural component: Source of identity
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Strategy
Research to find out the totems, important symbols and ceremonial markings
Cultural component: Social organisation
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Based on land /territory; kinship; family; age and sex; and collective and reciprocal obligations which are in turn based on family, kinship, age, and your sex. / Based on private ownership, individual rights; competition and capitalism.
Strategy
To recognise that for many Aboriginal families the kinship obligations still play a very important role with their extended families who are often spread throughout the state.
Cultural component: Religion
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Inseparable from every other aspect of life. / Christian
Strategy
Talk to parents and staff about inter-dependence between cultural components in Aboriginal cultures. In non-Aboriginal you can have an identity and be part of the social structure whether or not you can paint, dance, sing, be political, or believe in God, whereas in Aboriginal these components are all integral to everyday life.
Cultural component: Society overall
Aboriginal / British / Australia
Egalitarian – social stratification based on age and sex so older people have more power than younger people and perform very different roles. / Hierarchical – social stratification based on income, education and employment, people up or down according to economic circumstances.
You will probably find that in your local community that there are several well respected ‘Uncles or Aunties’ who will often perform ‘welcome to or acknowledgements of country’
Strategy
You will probably find that in your local community that there are several well respected ‘Uncles or Aunties’ who will often perform ‘welcome to or acknowledgements of country’
Activity 1
It’s important to remember that when you look for difference in child rearing practices in people of other cultures, they may find it hard to verbalise their parenting techniques. Parenting is often something we do from our subconscious minds and a conscious awareness is difficult. For many Aboriginal families it is also important to remember that one of the most serious effects of 200 years of systematic separation of children from their families has resulted in the creation of fragmented families who have not had the opportunity to absorb good parenting skills. Parents who grew up in institutions may not know how to parent, how to attach to their children and be emotionally supportive.
The values that can cause conflict in child care environments include differences in breastfeeding techniques, toilet training and the establishment of structured rules, as well as expectations that a baby might be held in someone’s arms all day. If this is happening with a baby at home, child care staff may want to get the baby into a routine that suits their work environment.
Case study
Consider the following case study.
When Jarra’s Grandmother learned that at his day care the children were disciplined with ‘time out’ and were taken away from other children she was very upset. ‘They take him away, away from everyone she said’. Ostracism from the group was seen by her to be an extreme punishment whereas by the caregivers at day care it’s seen as appropriate non-violent response that allows a child time to reflect and change their behaviour.
If you want to read more about child rearing read:
Hamilton A (1981) Nature and Nurture, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra.
Activity 2
NADOC Week
NADOC Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage
NADOC WEEK: clink on link
To see list of cultural events celebrated all over Australia: http://www.naidoc.org.au/
Your Local Government in your area support NADOC Week and provide local celebration at the local level.
Process information in a culturally-sensitive way, including identification of how and with whom information can be shared
Strategies for resolving issues regarding different attitudes to child rearing
It is inevitable that whenever people with differing sets of values have interactions with each other, issues will emerge. It is important to respect the differing child rearing and childcare practices of Aboriginal people.
As carers in a centre, we need to consider the following statements from the AECA Code of Ethics that will give us direction to assist us in setting up strategies to resolve issues.
Web resources
AECA Code of Ethics: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/code_of_ethics/early_childhood_australias_code_of_ethics.html
In relation to families, have a look at:
• Item 5: Acknowledge the uniqueness of each family and the significance of its culture, customs, language and beliefs.
• Item 8: Consider situations from each family’s perspective, especially if differences or tensions arise.
The satisfactory resolution of issues doesn’t only depend on how we deal with them at the time. It also depends on the kind of environment we establish at our centre and the attitudes of the staff.
If a relationship based on trust, acceptance, tolerance and especially communication is slowly developed between staff and families then issues will be resolved in a positive manner.
When working with Aboriginal families be aware that many people may have daily responsibility for the children. A family unit may consist of mother, father children grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.
We all have a culture and when we work with children we do it from our own cultural framework. This framework will have in it the way we think we should relate to children, the way we talk to them, care for them, feed them, hold them and so on. The way we behave is driven by our cultural values.
We take into account the culture of the child we are caring for when we have an understanding of how what we think is good for children lines up to what parents think is good for children.
Meeting a child’s needs is meeting a child’s needs. Cultural conflict comes into play in the way we go about meeting a child’s needs
Strategies for dealing with cultural conflict
• Allow time to build relationships with parents and children so there is time to swap understandings and expectations.
• Learn as much as you can about the cultures of Aboriginal children attending your centre and remember to consider age, family origins, family history, income level, employment status, and ethnicity. Don’t make one person a representative for their whole culture. Listen to individuals and clarify your understanding.
• Find out what parents want for their children and about how they care for their children. Observe parents interactions with their children. Understand that they may be talking about cultural differences or just individual and family differences.
• Share decisions.
Activity 3
Demonstrate respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in the workplace context
Sharing by encouraging and recognising the importance of language
Web resources
Creative Spirits website has a general overview of Aboriginal languages. Take a look! http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/language/index.html
Language revival
According to the NSW Board of Studies (2009) revival of Indigenous language is complex and different for every community. The Aboriginal languages in NSW are not all at the same stage of revival—each language is at a different stage. Each Aboriginal community has a different approach and opinions, and each school language program is at a different level of development. Each situation is, therefore, individual and sensitive.
One of the important lessons that’s been learnt over the years, however, is that if experiences, resources and successful teaching techniques are shared, then Aboriginal language courses can continually improve to benefit everyone, but particularly our Aboriginal students.
Promote the maintenance of language and culture
We must not only acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal children’s views of themselves but also ensure we foster a positive programme which meets the children’s individual needs.
Traditional Aboriginal culture is often described as an ‘oral culture’. This means that information and knowledge is passed on by older people to the younger ones in a variety of language, dance, drama and art forms. Information was considered sacred and therefore not to be recorded where it may be accessed by some one not permitted to have this information. Knowledge has a very personal dimension, concerned more with the relationship between teacher and learner than the information itself.
As with child rearing values, language is crucial to an understanding of how and why children think and act.
Features of Aboriginal language
Some features of Aboriginal language are:
• Language is present and past orientated.
• Language expresses basic values of the culture, eg, little verbal discipline towards children, use of personal, individual names avoided, very little direct question and answer technique for finding out information.
• Often you waited to be spoken to by your Elders.
• Non verbal, gesture language often used.
• Taboos may apply in relation to who may associate with whom, or in speaking the personal name of a recently deceased person.
• It may be seen as rude behaviour to engage in constant eye contact while in conversation, especially with an Elder.
• Long silences, in which to reflect, are appropriate.
• Talk occurs when the person is ready, and has something to say.
• There is no pressure to stay and listen to someone who is talking, just to be ‘polite’.
Languages used by Aboriginal children
The languages Aboriginal children may use are: