A conversation with The Aboriginal Transition to School Network

I have been back from my study tour for nearly two months now. I am often asked by friends, family and colleagues who haven’t seen me for a while "So how was your trip?" and it's always hard to answer, hard to quantify. I feel like I've only scratched the surface and yet I was meant to come back with extensive knowledge. I know that I have been gifted with the insights, wisdom and knowledge of the many people that I met and worked with while I was overseas. Now I am focussing on what I can learn from my colleagues in Australia. I am not only gathering my knowledge base in this respect, but also sharing what I have learnt with various groups and individuals. I am a believer in shared knowledge. We have a lot to offer each other as long as the lines of communication are opened and facilitated. Last week I presented to the Aboriginal Transition to School Network that meets in Western Sydney once a month. This group was formed some years ago to support each other in the work that we are doing with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and students. While the main focus is in transition to school, the group collaborate in many other initiatives. As we share and learn from each other we are supported in our work. It is made up of community members from a variety of agencies and organisations and is facilitated by the Department of Education and Communities. If you would like to know more about this group please email me on ruth.garlick@det.nsw.edu.au. I was invited to share what I had learnt on my journey, so I started with the usual PowerPoint and discussion points. I raised some of the questions that puzzled me on entering into this venture. "What about literacy and numeracy when kids are outdoors every day? What about the safety and risk issues? Is this image of a child in the fire pit too provocative?" I ask these questions to hopefully encourage others to consider their own viewpoints in what I have seen to become topical issues in the concept of Nature Kinders. I have my own answers, developed from being overseas and from extensive reading, but I'm always interested to hear what others think. Well I didn’t need to present really. I found this group to be very interested in the concept and able to articulate their own perspectives, especially the Aboriginal members of the group. I wish to thank all that contributed for sharing with me. The stories you shared were inspiring and touching. Much of the conversation was led by the early experiences in nature of the Aboriginal people in the group. As I was showing images from overseas I was being told “That takes me back to my childhood. That’s the sort of childhood that I had”. The image of the fire pit came up and I shared how this is quite confronting to many Australians. It seems so very dangerous. This little boy is placing a log onto the fire that he was responsible for collecting, hand sawing into the right size and placing on the blazing fire. He’s about four, maybe five. The group stirred. “That’s exactly what we did when we were kids. We gathered around a fire. It was important to us. We even played with the fire.” To the Aboriginal members of the group the image of the fire pit reminded them of the significance of these sorts of experiences when they were growing up in their communities. The sense of belonging, being in a circle around the warmth and sustenance that a fire brings, and what they learnt from being involved in making it, cooking by it, even playing with it. I showed another image and got this contribution: “You don’t need to worry about the literacy and numeracy. Look at those kids, there’s lots of potential for language, for counting and stories” I shared the experience at one of the centres with worms and slugs and dividing a feast equally amongst the chooks. Yes plenty of opportunity, as long as it is utilised. When I asked the group to tell me about their special outdoor place when they were children, stories were shared. “There are photos of me laying in the groove of their old cow. They’d get up every morning and milk her and I’d be sleeping on the cow.” I pictured a bundle of baby wrapped and secured on a gentle old cow, the warmth and sweet scent penetrating through whatever was covering her as her mum got on with the tasks of the day. “Our special place was the river. It was a place where everybody went after school. There was a big mud slippery slide just like in those photos, and no adults. We went there as five and six year olds. There were lots of skinned bums and knees! The river was also for washing and all the family was involved in carting washing to the river. We also carted water from the river to the house.” I asked about the sense of place that these outdoor spaces provided. “Our sense of place not only comes from where we are from, like those country towns in the fifties. It comes from where we are now. You don’t have to be ‘back home’ to have a sense of home and community. It can be done where ever you live and it’s about the people you are with. It’s also about where your parents came from.” On my study tour I saw children being gathered into the community of the preschool. This occurred around the fire, or around a talking mat, sometimes it happened in a circle in the forest as we sat on logs or grass. It was done in small groups and as a large group. The concept of Nature Kinders has community at its very core. On two occasions I saw older children coming back into the places of their early childhood and their teachers and parents commented on how special it was for them to revisit the site. A sense of place lies within all of us, but I suspect that it has even greater significance for Aboriginal people, perhaps to regain their connection to the land. From my own perspective, I can’t bear to drive down the street where our house was. What was once an old timber clad house build by my father and grandfather, a lawn and flower gardens, an extensive bush paddock, including the dried up dam that cradled three enormous willow trees, has all been replaced by medium density town houses. My place is gone, but my sense of place is a strong as ever, as evidenced by my unwillingness to drive down the street and bear witness to its destruction. We spoke about many things during this meeting. How kids today depend on electronic gizmos to get through the day, how adults seem to feel the need to constantly hover, to entertain or to protect, when as kids they were left to make their own fun, to look out for each other and while adults were available if needed, they were not depended on for entertainment. We discussed the panic of black outs, tv and electronic devises not working, and the possibilities of a what a few hours being out the back door can bring. “I didn’t hear from them for two hours”. But the hard thing is it takes a black out to get them there. The partnership that occurs between educator and parent in Denmark was a topic of interest. “I love that educators in Denmark are seen as second parents so that there is joint engagement and partnership in the education of children. I think that here there is sometimes a disconnect between our families and schools” “Aboriginal preschools are seen as an extension of the family. That’s why we are called ‘aunty’.” There was also some discussion around the benefits of taking learning outside “Outdoor involvement in preschools and schools is keeping Aboriginal kids at school. Special days and outdoor learning engages children and encourages attendance, which they need because children seem to be disengaged from school these days. We need to be exposing children to places and activities that engage them and enthuse them.” From this discussion I was left with the impression that there are many Aboriginal perspectives to be considered in respect to the concept of Nature Kinders. If you have anything to contribute, please leave a comment on the blog. I hope to reflect more on this as I meet with others into the future, and continue my reading. Thank you again to the participants in this discussion from the Aboriginal Transition to School Network.

Inspiring Scotland. An organization in defense of play.

While here in Edinburgh I was introduced to a fellow called David Hardie. As a semi retired lawyer David is now involved in a philanthropic organisation called 'Inspiring Scotland'. I met him here at a social occasion and once we got talking about his work I realized that I wanted to know more. He very kindly set up a meeting with himself and his colleague Eilidh Chalmers. 

As has become a common experience on this trip I was within the presence of an incredible inspiration, vision and passion. The people within this organisation are there to make a difference in the lives of kids and I'd like to tell you about it. I hope I can do justice to the work they are doing in this blog entry. Please refer to their website if this prompts further interest, it is well worth a look. 

www.inspiringscotland.org.uk

What initially sparked my interest in talking to David was the concept of getting children out to play. Inspiring Scotland funds a variety of worthwhile projects and initiatives that support children and young people, including a Go2Play fund that invests in play ventures. 

If you are reading this blog you probably have an understanding of the importance of play in children's lives. One thing that excited and impressed me was in talking to David and Eilidth, here were two executives who 'got' play. Their background is not education, not early childhood, but they understand the fundamental importance of play in children's lives and that it is not just for fun, it's vital. Because governments are recognizing the economic advantages of a healthy society and that play sets these foundations, organizations such as Inspiring Scotland exist. 

Go2Play is an investment in play ventures. This involves community charities in coming forward with innovative play ideas. David told me of one community that had a woodland within its environs, but it was used as a place for drinking and drugs. This space was reclaimed by children who went there regularly with 'Play Rangers', adults who facilitate free play, and it is now an attractive place that all can access within the community. This reclaiming of green spaces is happening in other places too, and play rangers is a growing phenomenon. Other ventures have included schools, where playgrounds are becoming 'grounds for learning', being developed into more natural spaces that provide for open ended free play. Playgrounds are changing, involving the voices of children, janitors, parents and school staff. All that become involved learn to articulate the benefits of play. The funding provided comes with clear expectations  and rigorous evaluation, so outcomes are monitored. An evaluation of each venture along with support, advice, training, capacity building and mentoring promotes its success and its future. Where does the money come from? I'm glad you asked. Some of it comes from philanthropists, individuals and organizations who want to invest their money into the future good of society. Because the money is managed so well and the outcomes are so effective, the government in Scotland also invests large sums of money. 

The whole exercise is not just grant giving. It comes with targets, plans and engaged support that works within the context of each community venture.  It was disappointing to hear that not many private donors are interested in funding play. It still has a perceived element of frivolity in it that is hard to compete with more regular charities and what is considered more dire needs such as drug and alcohol support or crime prevention strategies. I think our societies have a lot to learn about the value of play for children and beyond. The results from these ventures are collected as data to show the effectiveness of the programs, and there is much international research that shows how vital play is. The challenge for those of us that understand the play ethos is to defend and advocate for play, not only for our littlies but for older children as well. 

Why is play so hard to defend?

I wish to thank David and Eilidh for their time and interest in what I'm investigating here in the UK, and for giving me their very special take on it. I would dearly love to see this sort of thing happening in Australia and such things always start with an idea, a passion and a vision. It's another little seed planted in my head, and maybe yours?