More on Aboriginal Perspectives. An interview.

As I've mentioned before, I'm very interested in how the concept and ethos around natural learning and connecting to nature is relevant to Aboriginal communities. I'm looking for insights, trying to ascertain the connection and importance that having time in a natural space can contribute to a child's connection to land, to place and to their Aboriginal heritage. I interviewed Lee Hinton, an Indigenous Employment Consultant with Australia Post. I was introduced to Lee through a family contact and he very graciously gave me his time to share his insights. 

Lee wasn't brought up on the traditional land where his ancestors trod. He grew up in suburban Sydney. His Aboriginality was something that his family nurtured and was pronounced in his roots, but it wasn't until he reached his teenage years that he discovered what this meant for himself, for his identity. Being raised in an urban, multicultural society he described the pressures of juggling modern day as having a large impact in how he connected to land, to place. "The connection to land and place  that urban Aboriginal people experience is vastly different to that of those in more rural places"

I asked Lee if he had a natural childhood space that was special to him growing up and he told me about a large oval, a broad open expanse where he had the freedom to be himself, free of restrictions. He shared this place with his mates. "We liked playing sports, building cubbies and sometimes just laying around on the grass". I was reminded of the many times overseas that I saw young children close to the earth, laying and lolling about, not doing anything that an adult might interpret as constructive or educative. Children having the freedom to 'just be'. I recall watching one of the children at the John Brotchie Bush School flat in the grass, hands outstretched and head down in a patch of sunshine. Being still is so important, especially when it's voluntary. 

I asked Lee if he felt it was important to give Urban Aboriginal children an opportunity to connect to nature and he agreed that it's vital. "It's vital to connect to nature, as it helps in the indigenous development of their own beliefs as a child, in understanding their connection to land and to place. Country kids pick it up because they are more isolated from all the distractions in an urban environment. They come to terms with who they are and their surrounding area. Aboriginal children need to learn with all of their senses. They need to be able to touch, to feel. They need to hear the birds and see. They might even be able to taste some things" I get a sense that in providing urban Aboriginal children with opportunities to connect to nature we have a part in developing their identities, their sense of where they belong in their Aboriginality as well as providing them with an engaging learning environment. 

Lee shared that he found the class room a restrictive place. He told a story of a time when he was struggling at school. There were family pressures and the learning from books, at a desk, the overhead projector shining onto the screen, was hard for him. He didn't feel a part of the lessons. He had the courage to talk to his teacher about it and this very wise teacher listened. He took the boys outdoors and had them play active games, sports and the like. Every now and again he'd stop them to ask a question from something they needed to learn or know. He combined active play with academic learning. It gave the boys a break from the stifled aspect of classroom life, and I imagine it freed their brains for the sort of thinking they needed to do. "He engaged us" Lee said. How refreshing! I was touched by the benefit this would have had not only for Lee and his classmates but also for the teacher. "Yes, he was ahead of his time that teacher, I wished I could have had him for longer". That teacher was open to listening, and would have learnt from his students as much as they learnt from him. 

I asked Lee what he thought about a nature preschool that incorporated Aboriginal Learning, and asked his advice on how it should be done. Often we meet this challenge in tokenistic ways, like incorporating a bush tucker activity or listening to dream time stories as one off experiences. He suggested that elders hold the knowledge of their community and that this involvement and endorsement would help to build community trust. Without this, communities are more likely to hang back, not participate. He also reiterated that just having the opportunity to connect to nature, play in bush settings and learn with all of their senses was an important part of building Aboriginal identity and engaging their learning. 

I'd like to thank Lee for his time, his insights and his personal stories. It all helps to build a picture of what this could mean in our own local contexts. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too. 

Bye for now. 

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.