JCPSLP Vol 19 No 1 2017

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 1 2017 37
with us, which is really great, the kids absolutely love it”
(ECE1).
The teachers mentioned using stories or narratives to
help apply the learning. “I employ narrative a lot. I also
expose them (the children) to rich texts in books. I talk
about my family a lot and embellish the stories so it has
some relevance to the children and their learning” (T16).
Teachers and ECEs also mentioned using other
strategies such as visual aids or demonstrations to aid
comprehension. Some emphasised the importance of
developing the children’s confidence and independence.
It’s all about having fun with language and helping
them to realise that its ok to make a mistake. I
provide opportunities for them to be speaking in the
classroom so for example we have a café corner in the
classroom. We have lots of social play opportunities.
We encourage positive role models, for example, they
all have year six buddies. (T1)
Individual support in the school context
Many of the Aboriginal children were receiving extra support
for literacy learning at school. Teachers discussed the
individual children’s needs in this area and explained why
extra support had been provided by the school. Some
children had initially presented with low emergent literacy
skills, while others had not progressed as expected. “Her
vocab was not so good when she first came to school and
as I said she needed one-to-one support for her reading”
(T3).
Child and family factors
A variety of factors relating to the individual child and/or
family were also discussed by the participants for their
relevance to the child’s learning.
Health and well-being
Educators and carers acknowledged the impact of poor
health on children’s learning.
Literacy has been very slow. He has had lots of time
off school, really a lot. He has had a lot of time off
with tonsillitis. His attendance has been much better
since winter is over. So he has improved recently and
is starting to blend words...He was really reluctant in
attending initially. (T4)
Educators acknowledged that sometimes children’s
attendance impacted on their learning: this may have been
related to their health, as in the above example, or to
important cultural factors. For example some families had
to travel to visit relatives, so these children were absent
more frequently than others.
Educators and carers, both Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal, mentioned the impact of family trauma on
the child’s learning. The participants and the researcher
both acknowledged the impact that trauma can have on
children’s learning; however, the interview context did not
lend itself to exploring this aspect in detail.
The home environment
The support that the family is able to provide was identified
by teachers as important in helping the child to progress at
school. Availability of support was interpreted as a positive
factor:
She does have good support at home so they have
followed through with activities to develop her literacy
skills. (T5)
Numerous factors contributed to the perceived level of
support available at home, one example highlighting the
Some non-Aboriginal participants demonstrated less
knowledge about Aboriginal culture and language; their
responses indicated a lack of awareness of Aboriginal
English as a respected dialect. For example, some
participants made judgements about how “well” the child
spoke, and commented that they would “correct” a child’s
speech. “Some speak like their parents would. Their talking
sometimes improves as they spend time at preschool”
(ECE6).
Developing relationships
Developing relationships at many levels was described by
the participants as important. Non-Aboriginal ECEs and
teachers described how they individually, and the service
generally, were focusing on developing relationships with
individuals and the community.
I’m trying. We are working with an Aboriginal lady…
to help make connections. I think it is progressing
well. The families are happy to come here and bring
their children back. We try to make it as welcoming
as possible. I think we have a good relationship with
the community… We are working on developing
relationships. (ECE8)
Systemic factors
The participants discussed many factors that affected
Aboriginal children’s communication and emergent literacy
skills. Some of these related to features of the educational
system that the child and the participants were engaged in.
Teacher experience and training
Substantial previous experience in teaching Aboriginal
children, and post-graduate training about Aboriginal
culture and communication were mentioned by many
teachers as an advantage in working with Aboriginal
children. “I learned more after I graduated. I’ve done the
courses on ‘Stronger, Smarter’. I’ve done ‘Sister Speak’.
I’ve had lots of post-grad training and experience” (T1).
When asked about her previous experience or training in
working with Aboriginal children, one teacher responded:
“I’ve had nothing. If you could offer PD that was relevant
to children in our class I’m sure staff would be interested in
learning more about this” (T5).
Teaching/learning strategies
Teachers were asked about what strategies they used
when teaching Aboriginal children literacy. Different teachers
used a range of different strategies. Many acknowledged
the importance of providing an environment rich in language
experiences, providing lots of talking opportunities for
children in order to support verbal language development
as a precursor to literacy. Exposure to books and texts was
also valued. Teachers reported using many different texts,
including Aboriginal stories, to increase children’s exposure
to different text types and vocabulary. “In my teaching I
incorporate Indigenous stories into their rich reading
experiences” (T3).
Many teachers also mentioned strategies of modelling
and repetition, as well as incorporating Aboriginal culture
into their teaching to make it meaningful. “We use a
program aimed at Aboriginal kids. It encompasses a lot of
what you do in the classroom: incorporate their culture into
as many teaching moments as possible” (T7).
Occasionally an educator mentioned that there had been
input or collaboration with members of the local Aboriginal
community to support children’s learning experiences: “We
have an uncle that comes in and does the Katang language