‘Building Bridges’ and Indigenous Literacy: Learning from Indigenous Families

Abstract

This article outlines the Australian Early Childhood Association project Building Bridges: literacy development for young indigenous children, funded by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Building Bridges was a highly innovative project designed to develop resources for improving literacy competence in indigenous young children. Group (www.nrsgroup.com.au) who shot portions of the video, and provided copies for this article. Thanks too to the editors of CIEC for their patience and support.

The missing links to developing holistic aboriginal early childhood services in Canada : a critical literature review

“…Indigenous authors from other parts of the world include Cajete (2000), Duran and Duran (2000), , and Smith (2000). Ball (2003) Burnaby (1996, Corson (1998Corson ( , 2000, Cummins (1995Cummins ( , 2004, Curwen Doige (( 2003), Gamlin (2003), Goddard (2002), Graham (2005), Grant (2001), Hebert (2000), Paulsen (2003), and Pence (1999Pence ( , 2006) are all write from a non-aboriginal Canadian perspective. American writers reviewed are Cannella and Viruru (2004) as well as Fishman (1991,1993,2001).…”

“…Aboriginal practitioners in aboriginal literacy programs incorporate wide-ranging goals focused on preserving aboriginal language and culture and reclamation of identity (NADC, 2002). Grant (2001) demonstrates that the literature regarding emergent literacy shows a growing focus on socio-cultural contexts and highlights that many children are equipped for school by their experiences before entering school, including their home environment. For many aboriginal children, beginning school is like entering a foreign country (Grant, 2001).…”

“…Grant (2001) demonstrates that the literature regarding emergent literacy shows a growing focus on socio-cultural contexts and highlights that many children are equipped for school by their experiences before entering school, including their home environment. For many aboriginal children, beginning school is like entering a foreign country (Grant, 2001). It is extremely important to support strong native identity by providing holistic programming and incorporating traditional knowledge and values into the education of native students in the school (Antone, 2000).…”

“…Battiste and Henderson (2000) claim that parents and relatives of indigenous children must be convinced that their languages are valuable and relevant if revitalization is to occur. Grant (2001) agrees that ensuring culturally inclusive and appropriate education comes from active engagement with the voices and experiences of aboriginal families.…”

“…Some authors promote programming that is based in an indigenous knowledge framework (Ball, 2004;Greenwood, 2004Greenwood, , 2005aGreenwood, , 2005bGreenwood & Fraser, 2005), while others use the term culturally responsive pedagogy (Curwen Doige, 2003;Dunn, 2001) or culturally appropriate curriculum (Grant, 2001). It is unclear if these refer to the same pedagogy with another terminology or if these concepts are distinctly different.…”