Friday, March 30, 2012

Topics of research in Australia


For this blog assignment, I decided to explore the Early Childhood Australian website.  I found it to be very similar to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) which we have in the United States.  There were many articles on topics ranging from developing children’s early math skills to dealing with bullying.  The site also offer links to many other Early Childhood sites.

The ECA has a statement of regret published on their site. In this statement, they publically recognize that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait people are the original inhabitants of Australia.  They go on to apologize for the loss of culture that has happen to these people throughout the history of their country.  They state that part of their mission is to acknowledge and advocate the cultures and beliefs of the children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait heredity.  

I was very impressed with this statement.  Looking at our own history and the destruction of the cultures of Native American children, who were our original inhabitants, but also the way we as a society have negated the culture of so many people living in the United States.  Culture plays such an important part in a child’s life, and to expect them to just leave their culture at the classroom door is such an injustice in my opinion.

Members of the ECA can subscribe to their journal and receive articles about research being conducted about children and families.  The articles touch on many different areas child development.  The one that caught my eye was about using the Aboriginal concept of Dream Stories, as part of young children learning.  The research attempted to teach children about the Earth, and the responsibilities of people to take care of the environment, by involving them in more of the original culture of Australia.  There were also research articles about bullying, which is a current topic of concern in Australia as well as the United States.

References

Early Childhood Australia. (2012, March). A voice for young children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/index.php

3 comments:

Elizabeth King Santos said...

Hi, Stacie! I studied this organization in our previous course and just like you I was quite taken with their position statement about the aboriginal and torres straight families and children. Valuing the history of a nation is very important. Diversity is such a blessing that needs to be embraced.
Thank you for your post.

tiffany said...

I too found their site and interests to be very similar to NAEYC. I was trying to voice that, but in my state of exhaustion I do not think I got that across quite as eloquently as you!

Inspired... said...

I also chose to research this website. I was amazed to realize that even places outside of the US still believe the same way we do. I thought that their thoughts and beliefs would be completely opposite from those shared in this country.