Some outside providers conducted trainings (sensory, visual support) in school as well as several trainings provided to staff at main office. School also train parents about the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Susan Kandoff (Social Services and Mental Health Coordinator) hold meetings with parent to educate them about the transition and needs of the kids. Susan has two family assistants, who are school employees.…
This program is a school/life readiness program to help children going to Full-Day Kindergarten or the first grade. The program is available for children 2 ½ years to 6 years old, however, they encourage the families to send their children to Full-Day Kindergarten. Since the program is for the Aboriginal community, they include Aboriginal culture in their play-based curriculum such as the Seven Grandfather Teachings and the animals that represent each teaching, discussions about the 13 moons, the Smudging Ceremony and teaching children basic words in Ojibway. When planning the curriculum, they look at the child as a whole and ensure all developmental aspects are taken into consideration, including a child’s spiritual development. The classroom setting includes different learning areas, labels in Ojibway and English, minimal display of children’s artwork, a family tree posted on the wall with the children and their families’ pictures and documentation posted at the children’s eye level .…
The mission statement of this agency is “Putting families with wants and kids with needs together.” Along with that is their vision statement: “Helping to cope, Opting for encouragement and community, Making it possible for a kid to be a kid again, Eager to listen.” “Our homes will effectively meet the needs of children, their primary families, and their foster families with respect to personal dignity and worth of each member. We will advocate for each child 's rights, encourage personal development, and embrace diversity. We will provide an environment focused on accountability, structured for individual needs and the betterment and safety of each child.”…
As an example, take Community Education Centres: commonly found in remote areas of the Northern Territory, they are considered innovative for providing rural Indigenous students with a comprehensive range of educational services. Hewitson (2007) reveals, however, that in practice they prove unsuccessful in promoting educational success, often being swamped by students of ages 12-18 trapped in low-level, low-expectations primary courses because they lack the skills for a ‘proper’ high school—the so-called ‘post-primary’ students (p. 10). She argues that governments have misunderstood these students’ cultural needs and requirements, instead falling back on complacent, easy, yet ultimately ineffectual forms of education where students must leave home and family behind to achieve anything more than a modicum of success. These sentiments are echoed by Indigenous students interviewed by Nelson and Hay (2010), who identify school as an attractive place to be, but are discouraged by factors beyond their control, such as inflexible school hours, familial obligations, poor teacher interactions or obtuse, incomplete pedagogy. In classrooms far removed from ideal learning environments, these students find themselves constrained by embedded barriers in a school system that neither values…
In her article, Manitoba First Nations children's advocate fasting to raise awareness, retrieved from http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/manitoba-first-nations-children-s-advocate-fasting-to-raise-awareness-1.2575655, Puxley (2015) sheds light on Manitoba’s “broken child-welfare system” as she interviews Cora Morgan, a First Nations children’s advocate. (para. 1). Morgan explains her plan to “go without food or water, along with five other women” for two days, in protest of the injustices associated with Child and Family Services. (Puxley, 2015, para. 1).…
As a Family Advocate, I work with families and children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is important to focus on building relationships of mutual trust, confidence, and respect for diverse families. After completing the observations, the anti-bias curriculum is a must to reflect the culture and background of the families and children in the program. Many families I work with are low income. My goal is to create an environment where children and families from different backgrounds can feel comfortable and belonging.…
Shipp (2013, p.25) discusses that in urban contexts it is important that teachers do not shy away from including Aboriginal perspectives in the classroom just because they think that there are no ‘real Aboriginal’ students in their class. Successful collaboration in education requires teachers who are willing to engage with the local Indigenous community both inside and outside of the school gate. The value of teaching Aboriginal culture, language and studies is vital in integrating history, culture and beliefs into a holistic teaching system. Engagement with the local wider community is imperative so that local Indigenous culture, history, language and knowledge of Country can be incorporated into the everyday curriculum. Narogin (cited in Sarra 2011, p.2) states Indigenous Australians exist holistically within a cultural, historical and social context.…
The purpose of this analysis is to investigate a social problem surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) children in out-of-home care. Its purpose is to highlight the complexity of this issue, explore the statistics around how many ATSI children is in out-of–home care and the effects it has on the young person, their families and communities. It will provide an understanding and an insight to this social problem. For an understanding of this social problem the trauma-informed theory is discussed. A critical reflection provided around the strengths and limitations that can be observed from a social work practice.…
The Important Role of Occupational Therapy within First Australian Communities Introduction Occupational therapists enable people to engage in everyday activities through occupation, which can structure, shape and change people’s lives. Correspondingly, attitudes, values, perceptions and life choices can be shaped by culture (Kinébanian& Stomph, 2010). However, there is inconsistency in the provision of occupational therapy services to clients from different cultures (Darawsheh, Chard & Eklund, 2015).…
Although these notions may play a factor in Aboriginal children and youth’s education, health and safety, there is also another important factor that also plays a role that is embedded in society, which is the education system itself. Are teachers and school staff doing all that they can to promote the wellness of Aboriginal children and youth, or are they just allowing it to happen, based on the notion that there’s nothing they can do simply because the children are ‘Aboriginal’? Although we cannot change history, we can definitely change the way we treat Indigenous students, as well as combating racism, discrimination, and stereotypical notions. Often, Aboriginal children and youth face acts of bullying in school, which may be also contribution to their levels of low attendance and school drop out rates. Teachers and school staff can play a role in diminishing this by educating students about Aboriginal culture, as well as racism and discrimination, which will hopefully alter the students perspectives on Aboriginals and racism and…
This past year in particular, I have immersed myself in Aboriginal Education. I have attended numerous workshops put on by the First Nations Education Steering Committee and the Surrey School District, looking at Indian Residential Schools, First Peoples Science, Authentic Resources, and First Peoples Perspectives. I have brought back resources and a wealth of knowledge to share with those around me. This fall at Erma Stephenson Elementary, I was lucky enough to be invited to present at a school based non-instructional day. I had the ability to share resources and address many fears that individuals have with bringing these big ideas and content into their classrooms.…
Therefore the provision of mandatory education was extended to Indigenous Australians in a highly-limited form, reflecting opinions on Indigenous Australians’ limited capacity for knowledge. Consequently, the provision was only for the bare minimum amount of schooling; that is, an education that did not usually surpass the 3rd or 4th grade (Beresford, Partington and Gower, 2012 p. 92). It should be noted that this education was not offered to simply teach a limited curriculum, but to also effectively ‘colonise the mind’ (Tur, 2016) of Indigenous Australians by instilling Western beliefs, culture and language. However, the Whiteness of this education, interlaced with the overt racism of schools and the greater community, as evident in Aunty Tur’s recount of her school experience (Tur, 2010), reinforced Indigenous Australians’ feelings of disenfranchisement towards what was seen as the ‘white man’s process’ of education (Grey 1974, cited in Beresford, Partington and Gower, 2012 p. 100). This is an issue still present in Australian schools today, and one which Focus Areas 1.4 and 2.4 of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) standards seek to…
Cultural competency is an expectation of all human service professionals. Define this concept and discuss its relevance to practice. Chenoweth & McAuliffe share the broad definition that culture is comprised of the ‘knowledge, beliefs, customs and values in a given society’ (2015, Chapter 9) meaning that culture goes beyond simple connotations of race and ethnicity, to how we define our sexual orientation, our gender, our religious beliefs and even our disabilities. Cultural competency is widely regarded as an essential component within the human service provision and social work practice for this very reason, due to the wide variety of different cultures within our present day society, our acceptance and understanding of varying cultures…
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have struggled to gain equality and cultural recognition among the people that took away their rights and freedoms along with taking their land. Although through many years of struggling, with resilience and strength, the ATSI people have repossessed the rights and freedoms they always deserved. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may have gained back their rights, but they are still at a disadvantage in our society, as a matter of fact, they rate as among the most disadvantaged peoples in Australia; so how much of society’s attitudes have really changed? The treatment of the ATSI people is a part of what has shaped contemporary Australia today, our behaviour and actions towards Aboriginal…
textbooks). Not only is it important for schools to address the discrimination in classrooms, it is also important to educate students, starting at a young age, on the Indigenous cultures and on past colonialism so that non-Indigenous students are able to understand the differences, understand the oppression Indigenous persons faced in the past and develop respect for Indigenous cultures. In addition to recognizing and educating students on cultural differences, it is important for the government to provide an increase in funding for Indigenous schools as well as for non-Indigenous schools so that they are able to provide a greater number of resources for Indigenous students. These resources can include, but aren’t limited to, transportation to various institutions, better classroom environment (i.e. no mould or broken desks) and specific programs and clubs. By providing transportation Indigenous students are able to attain more academic opportunities that they may not otherwise have (i.e. post-secondary education).…