Building positive relationships with Indigenous children, families and communities: learning at the cultural interface

• Published in: Critical studies in education Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 338 - 352
• Main Authors: Kearney, Emma, McIntosh, Leonie, Perry, Bob, Dockett, Sue, Clayton, Kathleen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Routledge 01.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Aboriginal communities; Aboriginal culture; Aboriginal education; Aboriginal students; Australia; Cultural differences; Cultural Influences; cultural interface; Cultural Pluralism; Early Childhood Education; Family School Relationship; Foreign Countries; Geographic isolation; Indigenous children; Indigenous cultures; Indigenous education; Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous Populations; Interviews; Knowledge; Knowledge Base for Teaching; Knowledge level; Learner Engagement; Nakata (M); Native culture; Native education; Native peoples; North American students; Pedagogy; Preschool children; Preschool education; Preschool Teachers; Rural Schools; Student School Relationship; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher education; teacher experience; Teaching Methods; Vignettes; Young children; Australia; Queensland; Queensland Australia
• ISSN: 1750-8487; 1750-8495
• DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2014.914963

Drawing on the work of Martin Nakata, this paper brings into focus the everyday complexities involved in the cultural interfaces that educators, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, negotiate in order to promote children's engagement with formal education processes. Analysis of emergent data from a recent evaluation of a preschool education programme operating in 35 rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia, revealed that educators struggle to situate their own knowledge and experiences in relation to the knowledge and experiences of others in both the educational and cultural contexts in which they work. A series of composite vignettes reporting the experiences of early childhood educators across these communities is used to examine the pedagogical opportunities available to educators when they are able to recognise the value of the knowledge and experience of all those involved in a child's educational success.