Strategies for Building Resilience in Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Children: A Critical Examination

of Policy Developments and Recommendations for Early
Childhood Education

Introduction

Resilience is essential in children's development and wellbeing. Resilience to socio-cultural

challenges is a major issue for most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. This
phenomenon has its roots in historical events such as colonization and dispossession, which
have contributed to intergenerational trauma affecting the Indigenous populations of
Australia. The resilience of these children is tied to their cultural strengths, including their
attachment to Country, strong kinship systems, community, and cultural practice.
Indigenously, resilience is a holistic construct and encompasses emotional, spiritual, physical,
and social dimensions of well-being. These dimensions are interdependent and together
provide a sound base that allows children to negotiate adversity.

Resilience in ECE indigenous children requires deep understanding and an integrated

approach to the ECE settings using their cultural knowledge systems for offering a number of
protective factors. The concept of Indigenous knowledge systems involves oral traditions,
spiritual practices, and a deep connection with land and community; all these help nurture
children's ability to thrive through adversity. Therefore, such elements become important in
the more holistic development of Indigenous children, which should then be recognized and
inculcated into the ECE frameworks.

The following report critically explores the strategies being employed to build resilience
among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, done from a variety of perspectives:
Western social justice principles and Indigenous epistemologies. It will trace the development
of Australian early childhood education policy on the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in
the past two decades; it will focus particularly on the EYLF and Victorian Early Years
Learning and Development Frameworks. Conclusively, the report recommends further policy
development to ensure better inclusion of Indigenous knowledge systems in early childhood
education practices that will be resilient and supportive of the overall well-being of
Indigenous children.

1. Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Epistemologies

1.1. The Importance of Country, Kinship, and Community

At the heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' epistemologies is the deep
connection to Country. That is, the land encapsulates spiritual, emotional, and social
relationships (Grieves, 2009). Country is also a source of identity and a protecting factor for
resilience, providing Indigenous children with a strong sense of belonging and continuity. As
it is claimed by Dockery (2010), greater Country attachment is associated with more positive
mental health outcomes for Indigenous Australians since it facilitates overcoming the trauma
that is concomitant with social and cultural dislocation.

In this sense, cultural embedding into the Country in early childhood should support
emotional stability and resilience through the reinforcement of the connection. This would be
necessary, as through growth, Indigenous children are continuously exposed to systemic
challenges likely to threaten their cultural identity, such as racism and discrimination within
mainstream education. According to Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson (2016), the educators could
allow these connections through culturally responsive pedagogies that involve learning on
Country with the involvement of local Indigenous communities (Fleer, 2018).

Resilience draws importantly on kinship systems, too. Extended across generations and
communities, unlike the Western nuclear family model, Indigenous kinship networks create a
broad network of support for children. Through kinship, the child gets emotional security,
cultural education, and social guidance on how to sail through challenges. Research also
suggests that Indigenous children who are embedded within strong kinship networks can
more likely cope with adversity given their sense of belonging and responsibility toward their
community (Dudgeon et al., 2017).

The resilience that comes from kinship demonstrates Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems
Theory, where the child and family are interconnected with the community at large(Irving &
Carter, 2018)(GDECE101 Week 10 Lecture notes)(GDECE101 Week 10 Tutorial lecture
notes). For the Indigenous children, their microsystem is greatly influenced by the extended
network of kinships serving to buffer them from unconstructive forces in the greater world.
As an example, the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework support
family and community as a valuable resource for the educators in identifying the children's
learning experiences and confirmation of the child's identity with culture (DET, 2016)
(GDECE101 Week 11 Lecture)(GDECE101 Week 9 Lecture).

1.2. Oral Histories and Dreamtime Stories

The oral tradition, in particular, the Dreamtime stories, is at the very core of Indigenous
knowledge systems. These stories are not myths but vehicles for cultural transmission,
teaching children about their ancestors, spirituality, and how to interact with the world. The
children learn from Dreamtime stories about resilience as they realise what their ancestors
had to go through to overcome adversity (Vass, 2012). These stories provide a child with a
cultural context in which to frame their experiences and struggles. It allows for resilience to
be part of their world view even at an early age (GDECE101 Week 10 Lecture)

Creation stories often indicate the interdependence of all life and reinforce the importance of
place within the child's world. It is these stories that can help Indigenous children form a
positive self-identity in early childhood settings and position themselves in a continuous
cultural history. The narratives can guide the practice and pedagogies of the entire
curriculum, allowing Indigenous children to see their culture expressed within their learning
and promote resilience further by acknowledging their experiences (Harrison & Sellwood,
2016).

1.3. Interconnectedness and Spiritual Practices

The connectedness, which infers that everything in life is related-for instance, individuals to
land, animals, and spiritual beings-is central in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
Contrastingly, this is opposed to the Western emphasis on individualism whereby the core
lies in the collective well-being (Dudgeon et al., 2017). Indigenized children grow up
knowing that any consequences, good or bad, may have a ripple effect, not just in themselves
but within their community and the world around them, instilling a sense of responsibility
and resiliency.
Spiritual practices enhance such connectedness even further. Ceremonies and rituals will help
the child remain connected with ancestors and the spiritual world for emotional support and
continuity during hard times (Young et al., 2017). These often intergenerational practices
help in building, in children, a strong identity and sense of belonging-skills of resilience.
Educators can facilitate this through the provision of space to allow Indigenous children to
conduct their spiritual practice and through strategies that will foster cultural expressions
(SNAICC, 2010).

2. Policy Developments Over the Past 20 Years

2.1. The Inclusion of Aboriginal Epistemologies in Early Childhood Education Policy

Australian ECE policy has come a long way in including Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander perspectives over the past twenty years. The Early Years Learning Framework
(EYLF), introduced in 2009, represents a significant step forward in stating explicitly that
cultural identity, community, and belonging are integral to providing children with a sense of
security and guiding them through their learning and development. The holistic development
within the EYLF was initially recognized in the EYLF from the Indigenous meaning given to
well-being and how it is intertwined with the emotional, spiritual, and physical domains
(Australian Government Department of Education, 2022). It guides educators in building
learning environments reflective of the cultures of all children, while giving specific direction
to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures within the curriculum (SNAICC,
2010).

Similarly, the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF)
embeds the support for Indigenous knowledge systems since the cultural responsiveness of
early education is identified as a matter of significance (DET, 2016). In essence, both
learning frameworks encourage learning experiences that would relate the child to their
culture, family, and community to establish resilience. For instance, the focus of EYLF on
"belonging, being and becoming" resonates with the Indigenous worldviews where a
continuous past, present, and future underpin identity and resilience (Fleer, 2018).

2.2. National Indigenous Early Childhood Strategy

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Strategy (2021) also
highlights the requirement for culturally appropriate early childhood services. The strategy
was developed in cooperation with the Indigenous communities to make sure all the
Indigenous children will grow up healthy, strong, and connected with their culture. Five goals
were implemented to support children within the connections to Country, language, and
community that are identified as the elements of growing resilience in children (National
Indigenous Australians Agency, 2021)(GDECE101 Week 11 Lecture).

This strategy extends previous conceptual frameworks by placing greater emphasis on the
role of family and community in early learning. Based on the recognition that Indigenous
children indeed thrive when their cultural identity is nurtured, it in turn calls upon early
childhood services to effectively liaise with Indigenous families so their children's cultural
needs will be fully met.

2.3. Critical Appraisal of Current Policies

However, despite these positive developments, significant gaps remain in the way ECE
policies are put into practice across Australia. For example, many early childhood educators
continue to report feeling unprepared to teach Indigenous children in ways that are culturally
responsive to their needs (Price & Rogers, 2019). Again, while broad frameworks such as the
EYLF have provided overall guidance, the translation of these provisions into real practices is
incomplete or inconsistent in some services and areas that have fewer Indigenous families
and children. According to Dally and Dempsey (2015), without deep professional learning,
early years educators may have little knowledge of how to effectively embed Indigenous
ways of knowing and instead may revert to approaches that are mere tokenism, which
provide no genuine support in developing children's resilience.

The Closing the Gap initiative also reveals ongoing inequalities in the outcomes of education
for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, which means policies are yet to be viable in
tackling such disparities (Australian Government, 2020). What is needed is a more sustained
effort to ensure that all early childhood services are actively engaging with Indigenous
families and communities, and that Indigenous children receive the culturally relevant
education they need to build their resilience.
3. Recommendations for Further Policy and Practice Developments

3.1. Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness

However, early childhood education services should be more culturally responsive to fully
normalize this resilience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. This can be
provided through the full implementation of Reconciliation Action Plans in early childhood
settings. According to Fleer (2018), RAPs are a structured approach to reconciling
relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and ensure that Indigenous
perspectives are embedded into all facets of education. Early childhood services can be made
more culturally safe by involving Indigenous families in the creation of the plans; hence, this
allows children's resilience to be promoted by means of validation of their cultural identity.

Educators also need to move beyond superficial cultural inclusion; the one which limits itself
to the celebration of cultural days without engaging meaningfully with deeper levels of
Indigenous cultures, as being stated by Price & Rogers (2019). True cultural responsiveness
requires ongoing reflection and adaptation of teaching practices so that Indigenous children
feel seen, respected, and supported within their learning environments.

3.2. Greater Integration of Indigenous Knowledge into the Curriculum

One of the recommendations for resilient Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
includes deepening the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems within the curriculum.
This integration should also focus on everyday learning experiences, not just disjunctive
lessons where Indigenous culture is taught. For example, Dreamtime stories explain the
control of children, moral lessons, and carings of nature and community, which are some of
the important aspects of the worldviews (Harrison & Sellwood, 2016).

It has been confirmed that the more Indigenous children see their culture reflected within the
curriculum, the more they are likely to participate in learning and have a greater sense of self-
worth. As confirmed by SNAICC (2019), engaging non-Indigenous children in Indigenous
cultures has the added benefit of cross-cultural understanding and empathy crucial for
creating inclusive learning environments.

3.3. Expanding Professional Development for Educators

Effective enacting of culturally responsive practices requires comprehensive professional
development of educators. Most of the existing training programs only allow educators to be
more than superficially informed about the basics of Indigenous cultures, thereby leaving
educators underprepared to have a meaningful engagement with Indigenous epistemologies
(Price & Rogers, 2019). An extended professional development program that encompasses
on-going support and mentorship would build confidence in educators that they are able to
teach in a manner respectful of, and inclusive of, Indigenous knowledge.

Such training would further encourage critical reflection on their own cultural biases and
assumptions. The reflective practice would, therefore, establish an inclusive learning
environment in which the Indigenous children feel valued and understood. According to
Bodkin-Andrews and Carlson (2016), educators must engage in unrelenting reflection on, and
subsequent revision of, their teaching practices wherever necessary for all children, but
particularly those from diverse cultural backgrounds.

3.4. Supporting Family and Community Partnerships

A strong partnership between the early childhood service and the Indigenous families is
crucial in building the resilience of children. Research provides evidence that when families
are involved in their children's education, children perform better academically and socially
(Dockett et al., 2017). However, many Indigenous families feel disconnected with
mainstream early childhood services, which may not always understand or respect their
cultural values (Sydenham, 2019).

The services for early childhood would need to work hard on trusting Indigenous families
through appropriate ways of communicating with them culturally and involving them in
decision-making. This means educators will work in partnership with the community Elders
and Indigenous organizations to develop a program that reflects their cultural needs and
aspirations. It would also involve the delivery and facilitation of cultural programs, such as
on-Country learning experiences, where children can draw a sense of connection to their
heritage and develop resilience through access to deeper understanding of their culture.
Conclusion

Resilience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children needs to be built on a philosophy
that secures the unique cultural strengths into the foundation of early childhood education.
This report has explored the imperative relationship between connection to Country, kinship
networks, oral traditions, and spiritual practices in building resilience. It has also critically
analyzed Australian early childhood education policy for progress on and gaps in the support
of Indigenous children.

In this report, it is recommendations strengthening cultural responsiveness, integrating

Indigenous knowledge into the curriculum, expanding professional development for
educators, and fostering family partnerships that take up some of these challenges. These
strategies will go a long way in making Australian early childhood education more inclusive
and supportive for all children, therefore helping to close the gap in educational outcomes
and social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The fulfillment of these aspirations will require long-term commitment from educators,
policy makers, and communities. Nevertheless, early childhood education does have a critical
role in nurturing the resilience and well-being of future generations, informed and supported
by the diverse cultural knowledge systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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