How non-Aboriginal children respond to Aboriginal picture books

Kathy Geldings PhD research examines Australian early childhood educators’ and children’s understanding of Australian Aboriginality. Join her as she shares some data stories from two mainstream early childhood settings and what happened when educators read Aboriginal picture books to non-Aboriginal children. Some children’s responses resulted in the educators’ deciding not reading the picture book again, while other responses demonstrated children’s interest in and empathy for Australian Aboriginal peoples.

This workshop offers a critique of educators’ beliefs and teaching strategies that facilitated children’s understanding of Aboriginality. Kathy will discuss questions such as, are children too young to hear these stories? Will the children feel guilty about being white? What does truth-telling mean? Kathy’s hope is that we can open a dialogue that can instigate change for an increasingly reconciled Australia.

Completing How non-Aboriginal children respond to Aboriginal picture books may contribute one-hour of PD that aligns with the NESA (NSW) criteria for Elective PD and addresses:

The Australian Professionals Standards for Teachers: APST 1: Know children and how they learn

Early Years Learning Framework Learning Outcomes: Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators: Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts

The National Quality Standard: QA 1: Educational program and practice