Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T12:03:37.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Raising strong, solid Koolunga: values and beliefs about early child development among Perth’s Aboriginal community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2020

Clair Scrine Open the ORCID record for Clair Scrine [Opens in a new window] ,
Brad Farrant ,
Carol Michie ,
Carrington Shepherd  and
Michael Wright
Clair Scrine*
Affiliation:
Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team, Telethon Kids Institute, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Brad Farrant
Affiliation:
Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team, Telethon Kids Institute, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Carol Michie
Affiliation:
Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team, Telethon Kids Institute, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Carrington Shepherd
Affiliation:
Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team, Telethon Kids Institute, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Michael Wright
Affiliation:
School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Clair Scrine, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a paucity of published information about conceptions of Aboriginal child rearing and development among urban dwelling Nyoongar/Aboriginal people in Australia. We detail the unique findings from an Aboriginal early child development research project with a specific focus on the Nyoongar/Aboriginal community of Perth, Western Australia. This research significantly expands the understanding of a shared system of beliefs and values among Nyoongar people that differ in important ways from those of the broader Australian (Western) society. Consistent with the findings of research with other Aboriginal groups in Australia, and internationally, our work challenges assumptions underpinning a range of early childhood development policies and highlights the implications of cultural biases and misunderstandings among non-Aboriginal professionals in child and family services, education and other settings.

Keywords

Aboriginalearly childhood developmentNyoongarparentingchild protection policy
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 40 - 47
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, K. (2014). Koorified: Aboriginal communication and well-being. Fitzroy, Victoria: Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. (1998). Freeing ourselves from neo-colonial domination in research: A Maori approach to creating knowledge. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(2), 199–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackstock, C. (2009). Why addressing the over-representation of First Nations children in care requires new theoretical approaches based on First Nations ontology. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 6(3), 1–18.Google Scholar
Byers, L., Kulitja, S., Lowell, A., & Kruske, S. (2012). ‘Hear our stories’: Child‐rearing practices of a remote Australian Aboriginal community. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 20(6), 293–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Choate, P. W., & Engstrom, S. (2014). The “good enough” parent: Implications for child protection. Child Care in Practice, 20(4), 368–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collard, D., Crowe, S., Harries, M., & Taylor, C. (1994). The contribution of Aboriginal family values to Australian family life. In Inglis, J. & Rogan, L. (Eds.), Flexible families: New directions for Australian communities (pp. 113–122). Leichhardt: N.S.W: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Durey, A., Thompson, S., & Wood, M. (2012). Time to bring down the twin towers in poor Aboriginal hospital care: Addressing institutional racism and misunderstandings in communication. Internal Medicine Journal, 42(1), 17–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrant, B. M., Shepherd, C. C., Michie, C., Scrine, C., Wright, M., Ilich, N., … Pearson, G. (2019). Delivering Elder-and Community-Led Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Research: Lessons from the Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort Project. Children, 6(10), 106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fernandez, E., & Atwool, N. (2013). Child protection and out of home care: Policy, practice, and research connections Australia and New Zealand. Psychosocial Intervention, 22(3), 175–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fforde, C., Bamblett, L., Lovett, R., Gorringe, S., & Fogarty, B. (2013). Discourse, deficit and identity: Aboriginality, the race paradigm and the language of representation in contemporary Australia. Media International Australia, 149(1), 162–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funston, L., & Herring, S. (2016). When will the stolen generations end? A qualitative critical exploration of contemporary’child protection’practices in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Sexual Abuse in Australia and New Zealand, 7(1), 51.Google Scholar
Irwin, S., & Elley, S. (2011). Concerted cultivation? Parenting values, education and class diversity. Sociology, 45(3), 480–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaacs, A. N., Pyett, P., Oakley‐Browne, M. A., Gruis, H., & Waples‐Crowe, P. (2010). Barriers and facilitators to the utilization of adult mental health services by Australia’s Indigenous people: Seeking a way forward. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 19(2), 75–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jackiewicz, S., Saggers, S., Sims, M., Hutchins, T., Guilfoyle, A., & Targowska, A. (2008). Indigenous child care-leading the way. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 33(1), 56.Google Scholar
Kickett-Tucker, C. S., Christensen, D., Lawrence, D., Zubrick, S. R., Johnson, D. J., & Stanley, F. (2015). Development and validation of the Australian Aboriginal racial identity and self-esteem survey for 8–12 year old children (IRISE_C). International Journal for Equity in Health, 14. doi: 10.1186/s12939-015-0234-3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitson, R., & Bowes, J. (2010). Incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing in early education for Indigenous children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 35(4), 81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruske, S., Belton, S., Wardaguga, M., & Narjic, C. (2012). Growing up our way the first year of life in remote aboriginal Australia. Qualitative Health Research, 22(6), 777–787.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindstrom, G., & Choate, P. W. (2017). Nistawatsiman: Rethinking assessment of aboriginal parents for child welfare following the truth and reconciliation commission. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 11(2), 45–59.Google Scholar
Lindstedt, S., Moeller-Saxone, K., Black, C., Herrman, H., & Szwarc, J. (2017). Realist review of programs, policies, and interventions to enhance the social, emotional, and spiritual well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people living in out-of-home care. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(3), 5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lohoar, S., Butera, N., & Kennedy, E. (2014). Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearing. Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Long, M., & Sephton, R. (2011). Rethinking the “best interests” of the child: Voices from Aboriginal child and family welfare practitioners. Australian Social Work, 64(1), 96–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, A., & Allison, H. (2000). Values of urban Aboriginal parents: Food before thought. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 47(1), 28–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penman, R. (2006). The ‘growing up’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: A literature review. Available at SSRN 1728989.Google Scholar
Reibel, T., Morrison, L., Griffin, D., Chapman, L., & Woods, H. (2015). Young Aboriginal women’s voices on pregnancy care: Factors encouraging antenatal engagement. Women and Birth, 28(1), 47–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, F. (2011). Kanyininpa (holding): A way of nurturing children in Aboriginal Australia. Australian Social Work, 64(2), 183–197. doi: 10.1080/0312407X.2011.581300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saggers, S., & Sims, M. (2005). Diversity: Beyond the nuclear family. In Poole, M. (Ed.), Family: Changing families, changing times (pp. 66–87). Crows Nest: NSW: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Sinha, V., & Kozlowski, A. (2013). The structure of Aboriginal child welfare in Canada. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 4(2), 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, A. J. (2011). Coming, ready or not: Aboriginal children’s transition to school in urban Australia and the policy push. International Journal of Early Years Education, 19(2), 145–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toombs, E., Drawson, A. S., Bobinski, T., Dixon, J., & Mushquash, C. J. (2018). First Nations parenting and child reunification: Identifying strengths, barriers, and community needs within the child welfare system. Child & Family Social Work. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trocmé, N., Knoke, D., & Blackstock, C. (2004). Pathways to the overrepresentation of aboriginal children in Canada’s child welfare system. Social Service Review, 78(4), 577–600. doi: 10.1086/424545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, M., Lin, A., & O’Connell, M. (2016). Humility, inquisitiveness, and openness: Key attributes for meaningful engagement with Nyoongar people. Advances in Mental Health, 14(2), 82–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, M., & O’Connell, M. (2015). Negotiating the right path: Working together to effect change in healthcare service provision to Aboriginal peoples. Action Learning Action Research Journal, 21, 108–123.Google Scholar
Yeo, S. S. (2003). Bonding and attachment of Australian Aboriginal children. Child Abuse Review, 12(5), 292–304. doi: 10.1002/car.817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar