Did you know Australia is one of the most diverse and multicultural countries in the world? 2021 statistics revealed that 27.6 percent of the population were born overseas, and the top 5 languages used at home, other than English, were Mandarin (2.7 per cent), Arabic (1.4 per cent), Vietnamese (1.3 per cent), Cantonese (1.2 per cent) and Punjabi (0.9 per cent). (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021).

What is Cultural Diversity?

Cultural diversity is a variety of cultures, races, ethnicity, and beliefs within a society which is viewed in a harmonious and inclusive way.

As adults, everything we know, we think, we belief, comes from our own culture. The culture is what we know to be true and right, and that culture is passed from generations and established through social contexts and personal experiences. Culture shapes the values and beliefs an individual has on the world (Rasminsky, 2020).

 

The Importance of Cultural Diversity In Early Childhood?

Living in an evolving world in the 21st century involves being respectful towards others. This is increasingly important within early childhood as the experiences in which children have early on in life shape their perceptions of what is true and right.

Children are like sponges; they see and hear what adults do and they begin to develop their own presumptions about the topics.

This is how cultural competence can be developed in children. However, it is important for all adults to understand the impact in which their role modelling has for young children, as their beliefs, actions and unintentional biases can easily result in the development of stereotyping and prejudice instead.

 

Becoming Culturally Competent

Being part of a multicultural society involves the understanding of respect towards culture.

As outlined by the EYLF, cultural competence is “being ‘much more than awareness of cultural differences. It is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures”.

At Thrive we understand it is essential to first identify the individual culture of the staff, families, community and the children to then be able to authentically facilitate cultural competence and cultural education.

Our educators use these reflective questions to reflect on their own culture:

• How did your family’s expectations affect what you did?
• Were your parents, siblings, and other relatives close or distant?
• Were they strict, lenient, or somewhere in between?
• Were your school’s expectations any different? 

When educators can identify their own culture, they can successfully understand others’ culture.

Traditionally teachers and educators across the country believed it was better to be ‘culture blind’, not recognising or acknowledging any culture within the curricula. However, research has shown us the importance of recognising and acknowledging culture. In doing so educators can be more attuned to their own unintentional biases and avoid prejudice and stereotyping, whilst promoting respect for all.

At Thrive we ensure all of our educators engage in cultural competence to then be able to educate children on the same and advocate for cultural respect within the community (NSW Government, 2021).

Strategies to be Culturally Inclusive

At Thrive, cultural inclusion is a key part of our philosophy. We believe every individual is important and their cultural identity must be respected and celebrated.

Our Thrive teams are consolidated by many educators who identify with a diverse cultural background, and we believe this strengthens our approach to cultural education.

At our Thrives centers you will see us demonstrating cultural competence through teaching practices and curriculum provision, with some most prominent examples being;

• Artwork and pictures which is representative of culture
• Belonging spaces
• Labels for children
• Languages spoken
• Music listened to
• Culturally sensitive resources
  (Akhlagh, 2022).

Pedagogical approach to Cultural Inclusion

One key aspect of Thrive’s approach to cultural competence is to ensure cultural education is not tokenistic, and therefore in doing so we believe children should learn through culture as opposed to learning about culture. This pedagogical strategy involves educators integrating culture into the curriculum opposed to segregating it. Rather than teaching children about culture in a set environment such as a group time or formal learning experience, children interact within environments and the curriculum having opportunities to explore culture both formally and informally. Cultural resources are integrated within all spaces rather than being in their own segregated areas. Educators then apply pedagogical practices holistically all the time to ensure cultural education is occurring. This is our approach to cultural education ensuring we are being inclusive of culture all the time.

References 

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Cultural diversity: Census. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/latest-release

Akhlagh, S.B. (2022, March 8). Promoting cultural competence in early childhood. Early Childhood Australia. https://thespoke.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/promoting-cultural-competence-early-childhood/

NSW Government. (2021 September, 29). For All Children: Embedding cultural diversity in early childhood education.

RASMINSKY, B. (2020). Valuing Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children’s Behavior. NAEYC.

What is Play?

Many people hear the term ‘The Circle of Security’, and many people perceive to understand what the Circle of Security really is. However, the key question is.. What does the circle of security look like in practice with young children at Thrive?

Play-based learning is a term you have probably heard around and you have probably wondered what it’s all about and how does play promote learning?

During the act of play children are engaging with many dispositions; imagination, creativity, exploration, resilience, problem solving. Dispositions are essential attitudes to learning, and through this act of play children are enhancing their social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language domains.

The Early Years Learning Framework (2009) define Play as “Play is a context for learning that:

• Allows for the expression of personality and uniqueness
• Enhances dispositions such as curiosity and creativity
• Enables children to make connections between prior experiences and new learning
• Assists children to develop relationships and concepts
• Stimulates a sense of wellbeing” (p.10)

Additionally, the EYLF also advocates for play-based learning and defines it as ‘a context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, as they engage actively with people, objects and representations’.

Implementing Play-Based Learning 

When thinking about play-based learning, it requires a level of planning. Using the environment and resources, educators need to ensure they are targeting children’s interests and developmental levels. Through this planning children will engage with the different elements of play, inclusion self-driven, process-driven, and socially driven.

Each of these elements of play are essential to ensuring the play is associated with learning (Best Chance, n.d.).

Benefits Of Using Play For Learning

Play is the highest form of enjoyment. When children are happy, engaged and stimulated, they are more likely to learn and retain what they are learning. Contrary to this would cause a child to be disengaged and therefore unlikely to retain the learning which is occurring around them.

Play-based learning has the potential to support children’s emergency literacy and language skills and their emerging social and emotional skills. Additionally, play-based learning inspires and creates a space where children use and apply creativity, imagination and confidence, all contributing to a positive attitude to learning (DEWWR, 2009).

Research supports the fact that when children have positive educational experience in the early years, they are more likely to continue experiencing positivity in their later schooling (DEWWR, 2009).

What Does A Play-Based Program Look At Thrive

At Thrive we value play-based learning as the foundations to our curriculum approach. Using both indoor and outdoor environments, educators plan, implement and then evaluate the curriculum ensuring it is based on children’s individual interests. At Thrive each educator spends extended periods of time with children and their families, to truly capture the interests of individual children. It is with this information that the curriculum becomes play focused. As previously mentioned, when children are engaged and stimulated, that is when the learning occurs! Therefore, at Thrive, that comes from knowing each of our children and their interests.

Further to the structure of our curriculum are the routines our Thrive centres implement. Routines are important for children, to support certain transitions (mealtimes, rest times) and to ensure the programs are implemented in a predictable cycle. However, aligning with our thrive PHILOSOPHY, we ensure all children have opportunity to long extended periods of uninterrupted blocks of play. Allowing children extended time to play and learning through their play, enhances their retention of information and future memory recall.

Agency and autonomy are two crucial concepts within play-based learning. Children need to be empowered to use both. When a child builds on their agency and becomes autonomous, they are making decisions about their learning based on their own interests and needs. As supported by the EYLF, children should be driving the direction of their own learning. At Thrive we ensure all educators are equipped with the teaching strategies needed to support children in using agency and autonomy.

So next time the child wants to take the sand from the sandpit or the playdough to the home corner to use it for cooking… don’t stop them. Or next time they want to use the collage material in their construction area… don’t stop them. Rather, step back, watch and see what learning is occurring for your child in that moment.

References 

Bubikova-Moan, Næss Hjetland, H., & Wollscheid, S. (2019). ECE teachers’ views on play-based learning: a systematic review. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(6), 776–800.

Best Chance. (n.d.). The Science of Play: The Importance of Play-based Learning. https://www.bestchance.org.au/blog/the-science-of-play-the-importance-of-play-based-learning/

DEWWR. (2009). BELONGING, BEING & BECOMING The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf

Sumsion, Grieshaber, S., McArdle, F., & Shield, P. (2014). The “state of play” in Australia : Early childhood educators and play-based learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(3), 4–13.