Advocate the Image of the Child - NICOLE TALARICO
It’s time to get real with your practice! We are going to Rethink our practices!
Is your attitude towards your teaching & children’s learning discreet & safe?
I know when I’m consulting, the planning cycle is one example that is a little reserved. What’s happening in practice is more invigorating. We need to start to show that within our documentation. This is the best time to support our youngest citizens, we are living in very changing, challenging & sometimes confronting times.
We are going to talk about a lot of things that can help you offer a robust contemporary curriculum. Enlighten your work with children by re-committing to your role as a professional.
Critical Pedagogy fosters a collaborative approach towards agents for social change. Live up to the dominant discourses around the strong perception of the child.
How to be responsive in your contextual environment. Are we inclusive of Children’s Rights & Curriculum: social, ethical, & political
Is your practice unique to the Australian context & the area you are in?
Do you consider Environmental Education? Do you include: essential environmental activism in your approach to planning & implementing your curriculum.
We will look at children with an active role in reconciliation & showcase Ideas for Documentation & scream loud what you are doing with children in your curriculums to reveal the thinking in our environments - critical to high quality practice
Know how to achieve integrity in your work; thoughtful & intentional pedagogy
Gain insight into a rigorous learning environment; provocations to stimulate minds. Be conscious of the need to notice, wonder & consider with children
Respect children’s knowledge, their thinking & possibilities for further learning
I really want you to be inspired to support children to grow with compassion, empathy & a sense of social responsibility.
What’s the image of the child you currently have.
This workshop was created well before Global upheaval COVID19 & Racism Riots
Now the content is Paramount.As pedagogical dialogue and practices gradually return to ‘normal’ there appears to be a certain tension about what ‘normal’ is. What are we doing with our lives? What are we teaching children? Practices & Educational Systems are being reconsidered. We are Rethinking our role in teaching & children’s learning.
Before I start mentoring individual educators & services, I think it is essential to visit the early childhood practitioners profile;
• What influences YOU
• What was your Childhood like?
• Experiences in the field
• Beliefs (teaching/Learning)
• Who have been your Mentors
• Groups Belong to – professional & private
• Are you aware of your Unconscious Biases
• Dominant theoretical perspectives underpinning your beliefs & practices
• You have probably without a doubt taken on board Contemporary Approaches
• You will probably have shifted, whether you realized it or not, your values in relation to working with colleagues, children & families
• Self Assessment is the foundation for Capacity building –individual-the service
We need to tap into our profile regularly, because it does shift & it does change over time.
I recently listened to a podcast of Sir Ken Robinson, on ‘The Call to Unite’ -Live stream, May 2020.
• ”people to connect, share ideas, to work together…to see future possibilities, to bring them about from joint projects, and the mutual support that comes from compassionate collaboration.”
• He also asked listeners to consider what will flourish and what will wither?
• What a great opportunity to reflect upon the values that underpin our work – so we are revisiting our professional profile
• What will flourish and what will wither in your pedagogical contexts?
• The Reggio Emilia Approach has always declared education to be a political act.
• “We can never underestimate our advocacy for children and their childhoods through the design of our daily contexts; with children, with families, and with colleagues and communities”
What you might consider
• How are we listening to and building upon the ideas, wonderings and emotions of children, families, and each other to inform our pedagogical choices?
• What are our priorities, and how will we reorient educational practices to flourish in our contexts?
• What might you be grappling with as you contemplate life returning to a new type of normal? Could this be an opportunity for research?
• Do you see uncertainty as a catalyst for transformation? How might you enable this to happen?
• What might you do differently in both the short and long terms in response to the time of pandemic? What lessons will inform change in your community?
Children’s Rights & Curriculum
• Speak back to give our opinions about systems & structures that don’t work for children
I guess what we need to make sure we are doing is upholding children’s rights & making sure we are doing this via our curriculums
Absolutely IS & SHOULD BE social, ethical, & political Curriculums absolutely should be social ethical
Red Ruby Scarlet,
Our authoritative bodies need to hear our voices, our children’s voices.
If we go back over research, there really is a wealth of evidence to support that
“Over the past two or three decades we have endeavoured to challenge and address injustice, racism, exclusion and inequity through legislation, awareness raising, rights education and an anti-bias curriculum”
Rhonda Livingstone (ACECQA’s National Educational Leader) often talks about
”Underlying cultural competence are the principles of trust, respect for diversity, equity, fairness, and social justice… Culture is the fundamental building block of identity “
Everybody has their own culture. I often talk about it like a backpack. Everyone has one. No one comes to the centre empty. What have been the experiences that shape our identity? This takes me back to that educator profile, the things that shape us create our unique culture.
• The development of a strong cultural identity is essential to children’s healthy sense of who they are and where they belong
• Belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
I have been sharing information with services via webinar a lot of late & in fact created a Thrive in Stressful times series. Part of that series looked at how we foster Belonging. How we support each other as co educators & in the community & beyond. We talked about how to tap into the community local & beyond. Active input into society.
Things are happening in society that we are not separate from – we can actively get children involved in & show support for groups in society. Hospitals, The Blue tree project are some examples of children being involved. Its not a choice, its children’s right to be involved. It’s our core work, we need to go back to our core work for children’s learning & our teaching.
• Teaching of our youngest citizens
• We need to incorporate the UN Convention Rights Child – “we need to be unapologetically passionate about advocating children’s rights in our curriculums”. “Do we have copies of this? the posters? the simplified version only? Do we know what the principles actually are? the elements? Do we have the ECA Code of Ethics – do we know what is in these documents. Are they actively part of our environments or are they just on the wall in the staff room? or on the wall in the corridor?
Feedback – educators let me know that ‘lately I have been talking with the children & co educators about really making these documents live in our environments’
• Commission Children & Young People – fantastic volume of information on their website
I am training VIC & ACT services at the moment – in Child Protection – What is our role? Our responsibility? In VIC, so may layers in keeping children safe. Child Safe Organisations. What is the commitment? What are your policies & what are your practices?
• What does your Philosophy Statement say at your service? Have you amalgamated all the legislative documents that influence our practice that we abide by but are they evident at the ground level with children? This is part of advocating the strong image that we have for them, we need to make sure this information is relevant, meaningful & imbedded richly in our programs. We have to go back to the core ideas of these fundamental documents of our sector
• There is urgency in our sector to advocate
• The current climate of social & ethical justice has sparked urgency in our sector to advocate unapologetically through our curriculums.
• Do you incorporate Children’s Rights into your environment?
• You might display the UN Convention on the Rights of the child, a treaty encompassing civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children
• BUT what impact is it truly having?
We need to make this information strongly evident in our practices - active - live documents - influential - make a real difference
Race & Anti Racism - (Reconciliation Australia)
• More than talking to children about racism
• Anti-racism needs to be actively lived and modelled every day and teachers and parents alike play a critical role in this
1.Understand your own personal/cultural identity and the bias that you hold (a journey of 'unlearning' and 'relearning’)
2. Have a zero-tolerance approach to racism at home and at service; hold people accountable
3. Actively listen to and amplify voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by reading children’s books, media, and films by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and artists.
Children with an active role in Reconciliation
• Ethics of why before introduction of symbolic meanings through rituals & displays - sharing knowledge with co educators
• Respect & Authentic acknowledgement of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation and their continuing connection to country and culture?
• Do you acknowledge your service takes its place on ancestral lands and nearby waterways? Do you know the origins of the land you reside on?
• Do you meaningfully pay respects to the Elders and educators of each nation, past, present and emerging? to Country Each day? Before meetings?
How to be responsive & CHILD INCLUSIVE in your contextual environment
• Cultural competence (the ways in which individuals and services work more effectively to support, promote and embrace cultural difference)
• Racism & Reconciliation
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Culture in Curriculums Children’s Services & Schools – all ages
• Child Protection – National Standards (10 elements) VIC- Commitment to Child Safe Organisations (& Standards) Royal Commission & Reportable Conduct Scheme
• Helping Children to Thrive (Emotional Support – Wellbeing)
• *Children’s voices need to be part of every aspect – opinions, ideas, feedback, understandings, adjust = collaborative learning
• Practice unique to Australian context
• Your State, Your Location –
• What’s going on in your community?
• What have you NOTICED?
• Incorporate & deepen the understandings of narratives using reflective practice
• Acknowledgement to Country (A Welcome to Country is delivered by Traditional Owners, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been given permission from Traditional Owners, to welcome visitors to their Country).
• The hosting group welcomes the visitors, offering them safe passage and protection of their spiritual being during the journey on their land
• Professor Mick Dodson “ While they may all no longer necessarily be the title-holders to land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are still connected to the Country of their ancestors and most consider themselves the custodians or caretakers of their land.”
Our duty of care is that our curriculum is respectful, & accurate
Positive Racial Identity & Attitudes
Embedding Cultural Competence everyday
• Yarning circle
• Flags – Australian, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander
• Resources i.e. dolls, books, puzzles, possum skins
• Do you purchase resources from authentic suppliers?
• First Languages of the land
• *We are not all equal- attitudes matter- children notice- Denial of Difference (Colourblindness – Derman Sparks 1988)
We need to acknowledge the world is not perfect & some people are not treated equally. Some people have not had the same opportunities. Support positive racial identities towards difference. Human Rights we are talking about here. Trickiness & so use resources to make sure content in curriculums are respectful.
• Action on Aboriginal Perspectives in Early Childhood (AAPEC) is a collective of people committed to embedding Aboriginal Perspectives in early childhood services with a focus on local Victorian cultures
• Dr Sue Lopez-Atkinson with support from a number of Victorian Elders, senior members of the Aboriginal Community, SNAICC and the AAPEC Possum Skin sub-committee = The Possum Skin Pedagogy – designed as a tool to help us imbed aboriginal perspectives in early childhood services with a focus on local Victorian child care services. The Possum Skin Pedagogy has a guide, the reflecting & another release 'A Chain of Allies’ – a 3rd free resource.
Respect and Reflect Aboriginal people, content and perspectives – influence your own professional identity & perspectives to then embed in your curriculums
Unicef have the UN Convention on Rights Child Posters & the child friendly version.
A lot of the respect for the land you are on– noticing, understanding. What changes have taken place in the natural environment around you? Start to look carefully worth children. Go back & pick up on differences in what you see.
Environmental Activism – respect, action planning specific to individual services & making sure the entire centre community are involved. Make sure not just at management level. Everyday practices need to be evident right down to ground level. Children of all ages should be involved in action planning & forming goals. Rich environmental action planning. Curriculums need to take the time to gather information & research to support long term goals in your environmental planning. One service weighed their waste as part of their research fore the justification for the Dehydration machine. Children need to be actively involved in gathering the research & involved in providing feedback so they really understand the initiatives. Children as strong activists for making the world a better place.
Program for the JOY – are we supporting happiness & joy in our curriculums. Prompting joyful conversation. Take a photo & ask a question for wonder. Don’t miss out on pure joy – listen & respect children’s thinking & ideas. Pose more questions. Children are confident in their responses. We need to listen to rich imagination & fantasy world that sometimes we don’t support enough in our programs because we are ticking boxes to cover curriculum content. Multiple pathway possibilities. Nourish the wonder. Cant rush. Gotta be present. Intuitive Pedagogy. Authentic with your pedagogy & you can only do that is you are in tune & truly present. Notice the environment as well as the children within it.
Program for Wellbeing. Educators & Children supported & opportunities to reregulate & rejuvenate. Facilitate strong connections in your service community. Make connections in your local community. Fostering connections in the community to help children understand their place in the world & connections to society. Important in advocating the image of the child.
Program to Empower: supporting gender equity & diversity
Right to Risk Taking: capable & confident learners in their environment. Entrusting children to know how to be safe. Respects children as capable.
To Feel a Win.
“Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world.” Inform our own selves & collaborate with co educators within & beyond our service. We need to respect children enough to provide a rich curriculum that will help them thrive & be the best version of themselves.
• In Reggio Emilia in 2019, Claudia Giudici, President of Reggio children declared;
• “We who are working with children, we have a duty and a responsibility to work with the idea of hope. It is only hope that will induce people to action, with a desire to change things.”
• (quote source: Reframing Learning: From Uncertainty to Hope, Reggio Emilia Australia, June 2020)
We have to believe we can make a difference & we absolutely can make a difference in this sector. Critically reflect where you are at. Support & Training is needed in our sector to combat such a range of intense topics. The barriers faced by families & children. We are committed to self assessment to grow our pedagogical knowledge. All aspects of what we have talked about today – diverse curriculum – what are we noticing- do we have biases-what are we documenting – re address our biases- go back to our professional identity. Professional development like this & mentoring helps you to get uncomfortable, plant the seed. The Strong, capable & confident child - we are so lucky we can support them in their growth journey.
Thanks for listening
Nicole Talarico Consulting Talarico Consulting