Some introductory quotes from Margaret Sim’s Resource sheet – ‘Early childhood and education services for Indigenous children prior to starting school‘
‘…early childhood education cannot be separated from child, family and community health and wellbeing’ (p. 2)
‘…in considering Indigenous early education, non-Indigenous policy makers and service deliverers need to clearly understand their assumptions based on experiences with non-Indigenous early education. For example, in non-Indigenous contexts early education services are often perceived to be primarily centre-based learning programs such as long day care services, kindergartens and preschools whose role it is to prepare children for school. There is no doubt that readiness for school is a key factor in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Government 2010), but it is not the only factor to consider and programs are now beginning to address issues such as family support and the provision of non-centre-based services’. (p. 2)
Download the pdf from the Closing the gap Clearinghouse website
