Launch of ‘You’re in new country’

The Faculty of Education at Charles Sturt University, in partnership with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE), Western Institute of TAFE and Riverina Institute are launching a Resource Kit. This is one of the key outcomes from a three year project called the Early Childhood Education Workforce Capacity (ECEWC) Project funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and by the Department of Education and Training NT.

The project investigated early childhood learning and workforce development pathways in regional Australia and Indigenous communities in order to support the field in meeting the new requirements of the National Quality Framework (NQF).

The NT contribution to the project was undertaken in the Wadeye Community by Bek Farmer and Lyn Fasoli from BIITE in collaboration with Wadeye project mentors Mary Jimarin and Scholly Kinthari. More than 25 Indigenous community members, Batchelor Institute early childhood students and Alison Wunungmurra from BIITE also made significant contributions to the project.

‘You’re in new country’: Advice for Early Childhood Mentors, Teachers and Trainers is the key resource developed by the NT Project participants. An impressive list of Indigenous and non-Indigenous early childhood educators from around Australia have reviewed the booklet making it a highly relevant and useful resource for early childhood staff who work or intend to work in remote communities.

In the booklet, Indigenous early childhood educators share their personal stories of work and learning with people who come from outside their communities, highlighting the ways non-Indigenous people have supported them to succeed, while also reflecting on some of the equally important things that non-Indigenous people struggle with when they begin to work in remote communities. This resource is their answer to the key question – “What is important for non – Indigenous people to learn to help them support your early childhood work and learning?”

The project has generated many more resources which can be downloaded for free from the ‘Teach-EC’ Website. To find the site, just put ‘Teach-EC’ into google. The site contains a series of booklets, CDs and DVDs on topics such as Student support, Mentoring, Wellness and wellbeing and the Rights of the child and Indigenous perspectives.

The booklet has been launched nationally. This will be followed up with a local launch on Wednesday 29 February in Darwin at the NT FaFT Expo of Early Childhood Education and Parenting Services in Remote NT. It is expected the Expo will be well attended by those working in the field of early childhood education and policy. Anna King, DET General Manager of Early Childhood Policy and Regulations, will speak at the Expo and formally launch the booklet and project.

• A hard copy of the NT specific booklet, ‘You’re in new country’: Advice for Early Childhood Mentors, Teachers and Trainers can be purchased from Batchelor Press
• Complete resources can be downloaded for free at: http://www.csu.edu.au/special/teach-ec/