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.

Say hello to Ruth, she only speaks English

This morning I rose to another misty day. Light rain was falling as I got myself organised for the day. I'm kind of hoping for at least one miserable day just so I can see what it's like to be out in it with children. Jane assures me that as long as you are prepared for the weather and have sufficient clothing, it's all good. 

I enjoyed a fantastic buffet breakfast and waited for Jane in the foyer of my hotel. She is my chauffeur and guide for the next few days and I'm very thankful. Again I feel so privileged to have access to yet another skilled and knowledgeable person to guide me through this, to open my mind to the possibilities, to answer any question, quell any fear. 

We drove for some time through gorgeous country. It's very ordered and neat here and I love the prettiness of the country. It's very different from our wild and rugged Australian landscape (which I love with all my being), the greenness of this place is somehow calming and relaxing. We came to a small town and arrived at the kindergarten.

Laererden (translated to Larks Nest) is an old institution having been around since 1965 (so it's been around as long as me, I guess that makes me old). It's a big centre, with 26 children in babies group, 26 in nature group and 90 other children 3-6 years old split into six other groups. The classes are small and house thirteen children in each one. Each class has a kitchen, tables for eating, play areas and workshops. There is a large outdoor area for children to access during the day.

The head, Ruth, (pronounced Root in Danish) gave a brief presentation on the centre, its values and its structure. Everyone who is in the centre, children, parents and staff are expected to work within these principles and there is a lot of trust as well as high expectations of all. One thing that I really liked was that the children's learning portfolios were done 50% by the staff and 50% by the parents. This results in a record of the child's learning, interests and culture from both learning environments equally. 

Now what really interested me was the nature group. This group of 26 children have been signed up by their parents to attend the forest every day, whatever the weather. They either catch a public bus or treck there and back with their three pedagogues. Jane drove me to the site and I watched the children in wonder. There were no fences, only the rule that they must stay within sight of the main area. Some portable buildings have been erected to give them shelter if the weather is terrible and provide a place for belongings as well as a small kitchen. The children bring their own food. 

When we arrived the children were all scattered and playing peacefully in a sand/dirt pit, riding bikes, swinging on hand made swings, sitting at a picnic table, collecting flowers for making a head piece, and climbing trees. Some were kicking a ball around and it was very relaxed. At one point, the pedagogue, Jenny, whistled and everyone started putting things away and sat on logs around the fire pit. It was time for songs and to start home. Today they were walking and I was invited to join them. A little blond haired girl put her hand out to me, and I also took the hand of a little boy and we began this journey. 

Well little Edith chatted with me the whole way home. Her and Fri stopped regularly to pick up flowers, leaves, worms and a beetle. I was shown a giant snail. It didn't matter to them that I didn't understand a word they said and I just chatted back in English and sang a few songs that took my fancy. Every now and again we had to run to catch up, or skip. The sun was out and I was shown where some of the children lived as we passed houses in the community. It was a lovely experience for me. When we got back we passed some adults on the stairs and Edith said to them 'Say hello to Ruth, she can only speak English'. As this was translated by the pedagogue I was moved by Edith's obvious desire to make me welcome in her kindergarten. While the children changed out of their water proofs and jackets I went and sat on a couch with a book. Every room has a comfy adult sized couch to reflect homeliness. Soon Edith and some of her friends joined me. I showed them the book, 'Bambi' and in no time flat two children were on my lap, and two more squashed close. Edith snuggled in wholeheartedly as I told the story from memory in English. When they were called to snack time, they all lingered and I have to admit, so did I. I was very comfortable and in my element, even though there was the language barrier. Jane told me of a little boy who once said to her 'I can't speak English but we can laugh in the same language'. 

So it has been another very special day and I was thrilled to have been able to connect in a small way to these children, particularly Edith. Their capacity to be so social, to recognise that a visitor might appreciate being welcomed, to share a little of their world with me was a joy I will always remember. 

I have some photos to share, but will add them tomorrow. Right now I'm too tired. I bid you farewell, or as they say in Danish "hi hi".