Innehållsförteckning för JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE 5 2019 SOCIAL JUSTICE från Pedagogy+

Thank you for picking up this latest issue of Pedagogy+, the first issue of 2019. We have no doubt this collection of articles will inspire you to think more deeply on issues related to social justice. As with all issues of Pedagogy+ the team considers who will be on the cover and their relationship to the issue theme. It didn’t take long at all to come to the realization that Kerryn Jones would be the perfect fit. Kerryn has and continues to inspire all those who come in contact with her personally and professionally, and is a long-standing advocate for anti-bias education. Her approach to working towards justice and social equality is one best defined as measured, powerful and inspirational. You will get a sense of this when you take…

Mark Reilly was commenting on the imprisonment of adults and children in detention centres. We would like to use his words as we reflect on and acknowledge the community action and the activists who took to the streets across Australia in the last weeks of November… 20th November 2018 - KIDSOFFNAURU - UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY 30th November 2018 - SCHOOLS STRIKE 4 CLIMATE CHANGE We applaud the activists – the teachers, the families, the children and our youth who expressed their concerns and expectations… close detention centres, provide secure and safe places for these children, families and individuals; and look to the care and survival of our environment, working to address the far reaching impacts of climate change on our natural world and our global communities… Politicians beware, these are…

BIG h ART is wedded to cultural to rights: We make art and bulid communities to drive change among people wahi lack visibility. The change-making premise is simple - the work is motiveted by the vital role of story as a social protetor - captured in these few words: 'It’s harder to hurt someone if you know their story'. My home on the north-west coast of Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world, an incredible array of environments a short drive from home, the purest rain, the richest soil. It is the birthplace of permaculture, and the home of the Alexander Technique. And yet, viewed another way… The electorate of Braddon (Burnie) is in the second percentile of social need in Australia. Over a third of residents depend on…

Born September 27, 1926, died age 90, February 26, 2017 Betty Amsden grasped the world with both hands and made things happen. Remembered for her straight forward manner and indomitable spirit, Betty was a philanthropist of some note and a leading light in the Victorian arts community. She was a vocal advocate for philanthropy, and changed the face of ‘arts philanthropy’ in Victoria. Her focus was to bring the arts to the public, to the community, specifically to children and young people. I am honoured to be able to call Betty Amsden my friend. Betty was an incredible woman – her legacy to her friends is one of treasured memories and adventures, laughter and good advice. Her legacy to the community was and continues to be one of vision and…

LGBTIQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual and intersex) parents experience the same challenges as parents more broadly. However, there are some challenges unique to rainbow families. These challenges play out on a number of levels: family, neighbourhood and in the wider social and political context. This article is about how Rainbow Families (Inc.) supports LGBTIQA families to navigate these challenges and promote diversity and greater social inclusion. Developing connections with other parents is a rich source of support. Many LGBTIQA parents find value in focusing on what they have in common with other parents. However, there is also a need to connect with other rainbow families who have similar experiences. Some families are fortunate to be part of informal networks within the LGBTIQA community. For other parents, going to…

Located in northern South Australia, the mining town of Roxby Downs was purpose built to service the BHP Olympic Dam mine. BHP is committed to building social capital in the communities in which it works. Mining Minds is one such initiative. Led by Semann & Slattery this education partnership aims to improve the health, well-being and education of children and families in the Roxby Downs community. How can we create a culture of empathy that supports student wellbeing, emotional literacy and prevents bullying in our school, kindergarten and children’s centre? This is the question early childhood teacher Mel Kemenyvary and pastoral care worker Silvie O’Connor asked for their action research project in the Mining Minds leadership program with Anthony Semann. The question came from several concerns they shared about the…

‘I’m never afraid!’ asserts a four year old as we talk about Early Warning Signs, the physical cues in our bodies that alert us to potential danger. Later, his teacher tells me that it’s not true, that she’s observed that he experiences fear and sadness at the same rate as his peers. It’s common for me to meet a boy in an early childhood setting who has already internalised messages about masculinity; their need to be strong, to not cry, to play certain games and ridicule others as ‘girly’. Gender inequity is real. A recent survey from Macquarie University found that 60% of women between 18 and 25 had experienced gender inequality. In order for any societal inequity to be addressed in early childhood, it’s not enough that teachers and…

My family joined with many families, teachers and educators - we marched in solidarity for the rights of children in detention. Voices from the very young to the elderly, chanted in unison, with conviction; the emotion was palpable. A powerful story from a young adult, swept across the crowd, moving us with her heartfelt description of what it meant to live as a child in detention and lose her sense of self, her zest for life. Children were invited up to speak to the crowd; it was a privilege to listen to these very young children, articulate their thoughts with such courage and passion. ‘THE CHILDREN NEED TO PLAY’-MATILDA (4 YEARS) As parents, as teachers I believe it is our responsibility to raise awareness and create opportunities in whatever way…

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Since its adoption by the United Nations in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has stood to signify international recognition of children’s human rights. All countries in the world - with the exception of the United States of America – have signed it. In the years that have passed, the children’s rights issue has travelled a long, and not always easy passage of interpretation in policy, practice and research. Australia is at a point in the journey where the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009, p. 5) mandates that educators will ‘reinforce in their daily practice the principles laid out’ in the UNCRC. It could be argued then, wherever children spend their everyday life – such as…

I had the pleasure of seeing the work of the remarkable young women from Big hART’s Project O, who are taking positive action in rural communities affected by family violence. I am thrilled to see that this primary prevention project is now going national and promoting generational change.—Rosie Batty Primary prevention is critical to long-term sustained change, and Project O is focusing on primary prevention by creating generational and attitudinal change to help de-normalise family violence. The project works with young women to increase their personal agency and build their skills through mentoring and community events. It was successfully piloted in Tasmania, gained the attention of the Commonwealth Government Minister for Women, and has since been rolled out in Cooma, Canberra, Roebourne and Frankston North. Project O gives rural young…

We asked Nesha Hutchinson to share her thoughts on the use of language in early childhood. And in her usual forthright manner, Nesha got right to the point… Each day as I edit the daily programs for staff, I am surprised by the amount of spelling mistakes, grammar problems and the misuse of language. While we are arguing for professionalism in – and recognition of – our sector, we struggle with how we use language both in our daily conversations and in our written work. Words are powerful – we need to understand the words we use and the message they convey. We need to pay attention to our use of language and our grammar in the work we publish for families and colleagues to read. This article isn’t meant…

1. GOOGLE HOME Google Home is powered by the Google Assistant. Ask it questions. Tell it to do things. It’s your own Google, always ready to help. Just start by saying, ‘Okay Google’. Key Features of Google Home are: Get answers from Google, e.g. the latest on weather, traffic, sports, finance, local businesses, translations, calculations, nutritional information and unit conversions hands-free. Enjoy your music - With a simple voice command, play tunes from your favourite services like YouTube Music and more. Manage your everyday tasks - Easily hear your travel itinerary and daily schedule. Just start by saying, ‘Tell me about my day’ and get up to speed on everything you need to know. Control your smart home - simply ask Google Home to stream videos to your TV with…

How did you come across the work of anti-bias education and social justice? When I was studying at university the topic of social justice was not an included subject or addressed in any way in the degree course. I was on placement at the then Lady Gowrie, Sydney, when I came across an amazing teacher who was committed to tackling inequity. That was the hook, I completed my degree and successfully secured a role with Gowrie. It was an exciting time in early childhood; the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child had recently come into force, Early Childhood Australia published the ECA Code of Ethics, the National Child Care Strategy was expanded, which resulted in a major increase in the number of long day care places –…

On the 20th of November 2018, Universal Day of the Child, two hundred teachers from more than fifty Victorian schools and 150 teachers from 20 schools participating in the Brisbane event walked out of school early. We were protesting the ongoing detention of refugee children and adults in Australia’s offshore detention centres. In Victoria, just before Melbourne’s streets turned into rivers as a storm hit, we converged on the city to demand the seventeen remaining children, and many adults on Nauru and Manus be immediately resettled in Australia. Our protest had the backing of the Australian Education Union Victorian Branch Council and the solidarity of several major Victorian unions and refugee organisations. Hundreds of these unionists and refugee supporters surrounded the teachers’ rally. We had all taken a form of…

How does empathy work? Empathy is made up of three main elements. We are wired to flee from pain and that includes emotional pain. However, without experiencing discomfort and pain, it is difficult to put it into perspective. Basically, it is easier to feel pleasure when you have first experienced the opposite, and that is pain. Encouraging children to move towards painful feelings and to understand them provides a disposition that will serve them well in life. It is the same when we are attempting to understand the pain of another. If we have experienced the feelings ourselves, we are better to able to understand how another person is feeling. This shows emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a better predictor of life success, including cognitive outcomes, flourishing careers and…

INTRODUCTION – BIG hART BEGINNINGS If we take it seriously, culture is far from recreational, elitist or optional. It sits within the international rights agenda. It is an issue of justice, which plays out in pragmatic ways, as an essential service, like education, health. Culture is not benign. It is a powerful narrative contagion that binds us together. Because of the power of culture, we need to pay attention to it, and be vigilant about everyone’s rights, not for the few, or many, but for all. Because if we don’t, it can be used against sections of society, demonising them or rendering their story invisible and citizenry vulnerable. We need to take the right to culture as seriously as other human rights, because insidious, slow genocides gain traction through the…

‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’.Martin Luther King, Jr Much has been said about the place of social justice in the early childhood education landscape. A growing collection of thinkers - theorists, pedagogues and practitioners, along with children and families, have encouraged a way of approaching the delivery of programs for young children that privileges a deep examination of justice, equality and the right of everyone to truly belong. Increasingly daily curriculum decisions are being made that hold a commitment to fairness at their very core. In many cases programs are constructed to deliberately challenge the dominant (white) ways of understanding the world, confront bias and shift thinking. These efforts mirror the power of a growing number of people – made more visible…

www.hayvkhraman.com Hayv Kahraman was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1981, and now lives and works in Los Angeles. A vocabulary of narrative, memory and dynamics of non-fixity found in diasporic cultures are the essence of her visual language and the product of her experience as an Iraqi refugee/come émigré. The body as object and subject has a central role in her painting practice with female figures featuring heavily in her work, as she compositely embodies the artist herself and a collective, and reflects on the controversial issues of gender and the female identity. Kahrman’s series Marionettes (2009) is the embodiment of the aforementioned themes. Here, Kahraman explores this subject of female oppression with particular reference to war in the Middle East and specifically in her home land of Iraq. At…

When she was four, we bought our daughter a money box with four slots: living, saving, wealthing and giving. Every week, she’d carefully divide her pocket money equally between the sections. Living was for daily spending, saving was a short-term stash, wealthing went into the bank for the longer term and giving was the section of boundless possibilities. At the start, her deliberations over where to donate money were based solely on enthusiasm. As she became older, they became more thoughtful as she weighed up options of where her giving might have the most bang for her buck. Her style of giving shifted but her passion to save endangered marine life and, later, species of tigers never waned. Now, at age 20, our financially-savvy young woman no longer donates a…

WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE? Social justice is found when a society enables all its members, including children, to participate in and have access to the social, cultural, political and economic resources that define a normative way of life for that society. Social injustice exists when groups of people within a society are excluded from or have very limited access to these resources, compared to the majority of that society. Social justice is related to, but is wider than, human rights. People may have their human rights respected and upheld, but still be excluded from participating in or accessing the resources of their society. Very young children are just learning to form their understanding of how the world does and should work through their relationships, engaging with their environment and community…