The Loop Spring 2015 web.pdf

NOW YOU HAVE THE BOOK IN YOUR CENTRE, HERE ARE SOME IDEAS TO EMBED
CULTURE INTO YOUR SERVICE USING ‘CULTURE IN PRACTICE – STORIES TO INSPIRE’
1 Read, read, read – read the book from front to back 6
and back to front.
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Reflect on your own culture – just because you
were born in Australia and you only speak English
doesn’t mean you don’t have culture. An educator’s
culture is developed from their own histories, traditions
and experiences in their own lives.
Challenge the way you see children – draw
on your personal experiences and perspectives to
challenge yourself. Your own experiences will influence
the way you see others and determine how you are
going to act. Think cross culturally – this is challenging
for most of us who see the world through our own
cultural lens.
Challenge each other – at your next staff meeting
discuss your favourite stories from the ‘Culture in
Practice’ book and reflect on your own stories of
success. Share these with each other and make a plan
for being more culturally inclusive at your service (you
can share these stories with us too via email or our
Facebook page). Use reflective questions to challenge
ideas and practices within the centre. Invite a CSW to
your next staff meeting for a cultural conversation to
learn as much as you can about childrearing practices
in their culture.
Use your bicultural educators – most early
learning services have a wealth of knowledge and
information in their educators – so tap into this and
use these skills in a meaningful way! Educators could
teach children another language, introduce new foods
and tastes and show families that your service is a
welcoming place for everyone. Find the ways to help
the bilingual educators bring their culture into your
centre and feel comfortable and proud to share their
cultural heritage.
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Start a conversation with families and be
flexible! – share the book with your families or use
your new knowledge to start conversations. Families
are usually waiting for the opportunity to share with
you, but ‘all about you’ surveys in English may not be
the best way to gather information. As long as you are
following the National Guidelines and your centre’s
policies, challenge the way you do things and come up
with solutions that better suit the needs of your families
and children.
Look around your service – are your foyer
and rooms welcoming for families from a CALD
background? Do you have your families’ culture
represented in your vegie gardens and menus?
Are menus visual for families whose first language
is not English?
Engage a cultural support worker – are there
children from CALD backgrounds in your service?
Would you like to learn more about their culture and
child rearing practices? If you don’t have any CALD
children in your service, we can still assist you with
a cross cultural experience. A CSW will help build
capacity in relation to understanding cultural inclusion
and diversity and the benefits diversity brings to the
centre.
Ask for help – Talk to your local Inclusion Support
Facilitator. ISFs can assist you with ideas on how to be
culturally inclusive and can refer you to our Bicultural
Support Service.
For more ideas or information we are only
a phone call or email away. Follow us on
Facebook and join our Facebook page
dedicated to educators.
Phone: 07 3337 5427
Email: bsa@mdaltd.org.au
Bicultural Support Services at MDA and
ECEC Educators for Cultural Inclusion –
this is a closed group for educators only
BSSMDA
mdaqld
REFERENCES: 1.EYLF PAGE 13
WORKFORCE.ORG.AU 27