In the Loop Winter 2016

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MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION REFLECTIONS OF A JOURNEY TO CULTURAL INCLUSION TOGETHER By BSS team at MDA 4 IN THE LOOP
JUNE 2016 MARKS THE END OF THE BICULTURAL SUPPORT SERVICE (BSS) AT MDA WHICH HAS BEEN DELIVERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WORKFORCE COUNCIL SINCE 2007. We have been privileged to spend these almost ten years working hand in hand with educators, children and families. The goals of the program have been to increase the capacity of ECEC services to engage and meet the specific needs of children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The program has aimed to achieve this though mentoring, role modelling, workshops and practical support, enabling services to gain skills, knowledge and confidence to successfully include children and families from diverse backgrounds in ECEC. In this time several hundred educators have invited us to walk alongside them as they have journeyed along their own path to greater cultural competence. They have offered us the privilege of supporting them as they have built more culturally inclusive services. The heart and essence of this program has always been the unique cultural knowledge, insight and perspective that our pool of 290 CSWs have so generously shared. To our CSWs we say; it is impossible to overstate how crucial that your skills have been to this program. Without exception, each one of you have brought so much more to this role than any job description required of you. Thank you for taking the hands of children, educators and families and wrapping them in a warm cultural experience. Thank you for being our most important teachers during this journey. One of our greatest pleasures has been for us to watch “our” CSWs gain valuable work experience in the sector with many going on to begin child care qualifications and ultimately become employed as educators. The economic participation of these motivated and deserving people with uniquely valuable skills is one of the unmeasured achievements of the program. If CSWS have been our greatest teachers, educators have been our greatest inspiration. As we have witnessed the joy and satisfaction of educators and directors as they have forged connections with children and families from diverse backgrounds, the most important stories of this program have been revealed. Those of children and families who, as a result of the support and friendship shown by the ECEC service, become empowered members of the community. These stories of success have also provided us with the evidence that has helped to direct and refine the bicultural support program. Thank you to the inspirational educators that we have had the pleasure to journey with. Our experience has shown us that educators own lives are enriched by embracing culturally diverse families who are often new and on the fringe of the community. Educators have shared with us their stories of how the gratitude of families has been humbling and enriching for them but has also broadened their world and opened the door to new communities. These communities are now an important resource for those educators. “I know how scary it can be in another country, with different foods, smells and systems of work. One of my priorities is always to establish rapport and make families feel welcome. A few words of greeting in home language can make all the difference in putting someone at ease and showing that we respect and are interested in their culture” EDUCATOR It is likely that the most meaningful achievements of this program have not been measured, reported or documented. For there is no way to measure how valuing a small child’s cultural identity may affect the trajectory of their life. There is no easy way for us to measure how raising a generation of culturally sensitive children will affect the way our society looks in the decades to come. However, the stories shared by educators do give us some insights into how this important work may be helping to achieve a unified, tolerant society. Teach them well and they lead the way. WHITNEY HOUSTON The Culture in Practice book produced in 2015 was born out of a desire to capture; in a meaningful and lasting way, some of the many successes that we have witnessed when educators further open their hearts and minds to diversity. It is important that all children and educators understand the importance of respect for and acceptance of our diversity so that the future of multicultural Australia is a bright one. Our hope was that this publication would inspire others to understand the importance of embedding language and culture into early education programs so that children from a CALD background are able to thrive. We were delighted and proud to produce this publication. The Cultural Expo held in 2014 was a proud moment where we got to watch our CSWs in action as they met educators and gave them a taste of our program. Many new services were introduced to the program on that day in a colourful, flavourful, musical, visual bazar of culture and storytelling. A lasting memory is of educators, ISFs and CSWs in traditional cultural clothing dancing together to Persian music. Feedback was rapturous and educators left the day with great enthusiasm for reviewing their practice, for BSS and genuine warmth toward the CSWs and communities represented. ‘I came home with a load of resources and an abundance of enthusiasm to embed culture into our program. I have been raving about the expo.’ From this began wonderful collaborations between BSS and several services. WORKFORCE.ORG.AU 5
Page 1 and 2: Winter 2016 REFLECTIONS OF A JOURNE
Page 3: IN THIS ISSUE From little things bi
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Page 9 and 10: Practice Mentor Capability Framewor
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Page 13 and 14: REFLECTIVE PRACTICE & DOCUMENTATION
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Page 17 and 18: When it comes to questions about ho
Page 19 and 20: BACKGROUND TO THE ACTION RESEARCH P
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Page 23 and 24: DO YOU HOLD A CERTIFICATE III QUALI
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In the Loop Winter 2016

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