JCPSLP Vol 19 No 1 March 2017

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

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 1 2017

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