FKA Childrens Services EDFD 221 Assignment 2Report on

FKA Children’s Services EDFD 221 Assignment 2—Report on an Agency Claudia Capuano (S 00170557)

(FKA, 2015).

About FKA Children’s Services • FKA Children’s Services (fka. CS) advocates for children’s cultural and linguistic rights and provides support to education and care services in the provision of culturally rich environments that support a civil society (FKA, 2015). The History of FKA Children’s Services (Fka. CS): • Fka. CS first began as the Free Kindergarten Union (FKU) in 1908, where they were the forefront of the early childhood education movement and played a major role in instigating significant early childhood initiatives. These included the establishment of the first Kindergarten Teachers College (now part of Melbourne University) and the formation of a national association for early childhood (which evolved to Early Childhood Australia). Today, the organisation is known as Fka. CS where they continue to advocate for children’s cultural and linguistic rights and provide professional development and support to education and care services in the provision of culturally rich environments that reflect a civil society (FKA, 2015).

Vision Statement “Our vision is for all children to have access to quality education and care services that recognize and value diversity. ” (FKA, 2015) How Legislation is reflected in Fka. CS Policies: Stemming from Fka. CS’s vision we see that legislation such as the Convention on the Rights of a Child and Racial Discrimination Act are direct sources for their actions to serve their policies surrounding equality and quality education for refugee/immigrant children. • Children have the right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether or not these are shared by the majority of the people in the country where they live. . . ’ (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, 1989) Fka. CS’s main policy is to allow these children equal opportunity to quality education through embracing and maintaining their culture.

How Legislation is reflected in Fka. CS Policies: • “ Education is the right of every child. It should be free and fair, with equal access for girls and boys. “ (Article 28, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989) Refugee children, Like Amira (avatar child) should be granted the opportunity to be educated given their home country often denies them this right as civil war is overcasting. • “Child refugees have the right to special assistance and protection” (Article 22, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989) Follows Fka. CS’s entire purpose that refugee children have the right to be given guidance and protection, especially on their new journey to establishing an education.

How Legislation is reflected in Fka. CS Policies: • “The right to education and training; The right to equal participation in cultural activities…” and “ The right to access equal education, culture and information…” (Article 5 and Article 7 Racial Discrimination Act, 1975) Another strong source that outlines that refugee children shouldn’t be denied equal opportunities of quality education, freedom of expression and maintenance of their cultural practices and language due to their race/place of origin, just the same as children who are born here have these same rights. Amira was exposed to violent surroundings where it impacted on her opportunity to attend school regularly and be exposed to higher education where she can succeed emotional, socially and academically. Legislation is the voice of children who are ‘run by adults’, and those put in unfortunate circumstances of change, as refugee students are placed in.

The Services provided by Fka. CS (FKA—Annual Report, 2015) Bicultural/Bilingual Support Program: > provided by FKA Facilitators whose role is to increase educator’s capacity in the provision of culturally competent pedagogy and the ability to engage meaningfully with children and families for whom there is no shared language. - Support communication between the child and other children in the service to enable the child to development of a sense of wellbeing and belonging to the education and care service - Support communication between educator and parents/guardians. For example, interpreting meetings between parents and educators, providing verbal translation of enrolment documents, and providing educators with key words and phrases that can be used to communicate with the child - accessible supports to settle newly arrived children; - children and families’ cultural and linguistic rights are recognised as the foundation of quality practice; - access to practical support, with a capacity building approach, to provide culturally responsive programs and curriculum. - Support that bridges the child and family to the teacher

The Services provided by Fka. CS Bicultural Support enhances children’s learning and wellbeing, values identity and supports children and families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds to develop a sense of belonging within children’s services. Supporting children and families from CALD backgrounds to settle and enroll in children’s services is an extremely important step in building respectful, supportive and collaborative partnerships with families (ACECQA, 2011). Children and families from CALD backgrounds, may feel overwhelmed by the new and unfamiliar environment and language of a children’s service. Children may be distressed or disengaged from the program and educators may find it challenging to communicate with the family. Fka. CS Bicultural Support has been developed in line with the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework and My Time, Our Place - Framework for School Age Care in Australia. The presence of an fka. CS bilingual worker provides the opportunity for children and families to hear their home language and demonstrates that the service values and respects children’s cultural and linguistic rights.

How Fka. CS seeks to address Issues of Social Justice: • Fka. SC’s strong belief in the need to ensure high quality education is available for all refugee/immigrant children and support for their families provides a scope for addressing the issue of inequality and discrimination within social justice issues. • The resources and support that Fka. SC provides the children and their teacher’s support the maintenance of the child’s education and targets bicultural support to settle children who have newly arrived into communities and schools without feeling the pressures of society. • Cultural Competency: Cultural competence is ‘much more than awareness of cultural differences. It is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures’ (DEEWR, 2009, p. 16). To effectively develop respectful and supportive relationships with all children and families, educators need to value the influence that culture has on experiences, understandings, expectations and practices. Cultural competency is a lens applied to Fka. SC’s thoughts and actions when working with children and families. It enhances their ability to support children’s identity, sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Referral Procedures to Fka. CS • Australian Government IPSP eligible Children’s Services (incl. LDC, OSHC, FDC, BBF) receive free Bicultural Support 1. Contact your regional ISA - click on link for details ISA Regional Contact to develop an Inclusion Improvement Plan (IIP) 2. Obtain Parent/Guardian Permission. 3. Complete an IPSP Bicultural Support request form 4. Forward the completed IPSP Bicultural Support request form to biculturalsupport@fka. org. au 5. An fka. CS Consultant will contact the children’s service to provide phone support, strategies and resources. Support visits by an fka. CS consultant and a bilingual worker will be organised as required

Response/Strategies/Treatments provided by Fka. CS to address issues particularly for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: • This agency is primarily for the needs and services of students who are new to the country and/or have cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds, therefore the basis of the responses/strategies/treatments are based on this aspect. • Issues the child of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background faces are: - Separation anxiety from family—familiar people - Sense of Distance because of new practices - Little Understanding of instruction and expected outcomes - Disengagement from activities - Low confidence and comfortability even though they are in a safe environment

Response/Strategies/Treatments provided by Fka. CS to address issues particularly for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: • Therefore the Fka. CS support workers respond/strategize/treat the refugee students through the promotion of: - incorporate multicultural perspectives in all programming - maintenance and development of languages other than English is promoted and children are supported to learn English as an additional language - Encouragement and guided intervention with activities and communication in order to allow the students to have equal opportunities to participate and achieve in group and individually. • Fka. CS also provides online translation to their website and any resources made available to parents.

Identification of implications for educators including ideas for accommodation and adjustments to support refugee students: • Fka. CS recognises implications for educators is working with children that encounter language barriers, distraction and lowconcentration, low confidence as well as a sense of distance. • In order to accommodate and adjust curriculum to include refugee children: - Provision of Fka. CS bilingual support worker—communicate in both English and native tongue - Inclusion of native language phrases such as thank-you, please, hello, are you ok, how are you [if possible—or fragments of each] - Having cultural days - familiar cultural practices - allowing the students to work on simplified texts - providing audio text as well - repetition of the question and expected outcomes - allowing the students to work with another student of similar background

Identification of implications for educators including ideas for accommodation and adjustments to support refugee students: • In order to meet the principles of the Family-School Partnerships Framework the Fka. CS is: - the bridge between the educator and student where they follow effective ways to consult with each other; - helps educators increase level of involvement with students cultural practices and language; - creates activities that are engaging based on familial practices; (DEEWR, 2015, p. 43) - as well as active communication with the parents outside of school to ensure there is no linguistic barriers.

Theories underpinning the issues the Fka. CS deals with: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP): • Defined as a personal and professional “developmental process” (Gay, 2013, p. 57) that involves “advocacy for teaching to and through cultural diversity to improve the achievement of ethnically diverse students” (Gay, 2013, p. 53). • Purpose: to empower linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse students by cultivating their cultural integrity, individual abilities, and academic success. • Culturally responsive educators realize not only the importance of academic achievement, but also the maintenance of cultural identity and heritage. (Han, Vomvoridi, Jacobs, Karanxha, Lypka, Topdemir & Feldman, 2014, p. 291) • Incorporates “culturally mediated cognition, culturally appropriate social situations for learning, and culturally valued knowledge in curriculum content” (Gay, Kirkland, 2003, p. 182) • Culture in central to student learning, which boosts their ability to perform.

Theories underpinning the issues the Fka. CS deals with: Behaviourism—Social Learning Theory: • Learning focuses on the behaviour of the learner and the change in behaviour that occurs when learning takes place (Woollard, 2010, p. 1) • Fka. CS recognises that refugee children often suffer from trauma and stress disorders, therefore have different behavioural changes that are often negative. This makes it difficult if educators are not aware because, through behaviourism the pedagogy involves: praise, celebration and approval (rewarding) modelling/shaping—gives students strategies to interact with others using English, shown in the findings of theorist Albert Bandura (Woollard, 2010, p. 17). observation charts reinforcement of behaviour, (Woollard, 2010, p. 3). • These tools serve educators in being able to give students the reinforced confidence needed to feel safe within the classroom/school, American Psychologist Burhus Frederic Skinner (1904 -90), advocated this theory, finding that the classroom provides students with modelled accepted behaviours that shape the advancement and success in learning (Woollard, 2010, p. 16).

Theories underpinning the issues the Fka. CS deals with: Sociocultural Theory: • Lev Vygotsky’s (1896 -11934) theory describes learning as a social process and the origination of human intelligence in society and culture, where social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition (Kozulin, A. , Gindis, B. , Ageyev, V. S. , Pea, R. , Brown, J. S. , Heath, C. , 2003. p. 1). • Through open communication Fka. CS support workers enable students to become active in their interactions and positively progress skill acquisition that relates to linguistics and the cultural behaviour of their classrooms (Arievitch, Stetsenko, 2000, p. 71) • Positive reinforcement of their attempts and participation in interaction gives the following benefits: - confidence—this is flourishment of wellbeing and strength based reinforcement (Urbis Australia, 2011, p. 8). - social and emotional skill development - learned behaviour - sense of safety and care within the environment

References: • Arievitch I. M. , & Stetsenko, A. (2000). The quality of cultural tools and cognitive development: Ga; ’perin’s perspective and its implications. Human Development, 43, 69 -92 • Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority. (2011). Australia: Australian Children’ Guide to the National Quality Standards Education and Care Quality Authority. • Australian Human Rights Commission. (2015). Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Retrieved from https: //www. humanrights. gov. au/our-work/legal/legislation#rda • Cross, T. , Bazron, B. , Dennis, K. , & Isaacs, M. (1989). Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care, Volume 1. USA: Washington, DC: CASSP Technical Assistance Center, Center for Child Health and Mental Health Policy, Georgetown University Child Development Center. • Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Regulations. (2015). Family School Partnerships Framework. Retrieved from https: //leocontent. acu. edu. au/file/e 15 c 9 dc 6 -4 eb 2 -542 b-dbf 12 af 04 d 69 cb 60/1/Family. School. Partnerships. Framework. FINAL. pdf • Fennimore, B. S. (2007). Know where you stand there. Childhood Education, 83(5), 294 -298. doi: 10. 1080/00094056. 2007. 10522935

References: • FKA Children’s Services. (2015). FKA Annual Report. Retrieved from http: //www. fka. com. au/cms_uploads/docs/2014 -15 -fka-annual-report. pdf • FKA Children’s Services. (2015). About Us. Retrieved from http: //www. fka. com. au/about-fka/about-us • FKA Children’s Services. (2015). Bicultural Support Worker Position Description. Retrieved from http: //fka. efront-dev. com. au/cms_uploads/docs/bilingual-workerposition-description. pdf • FKA Children’s Services. (2015). Bicultural Support Booklet. Retrieved from http: //www. fka. com. au/cms_uploads/docs/bicultural-support-booklet-final 2014. pdf • Gay, G. (2013). Teaching to and through cultural diversity. Curriculum Inquiry , 43, 48– 70. • Gay, G. , & Kirkland, K. (2003). Developing cultural critical consciousness and self reflection in preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 42, 181– 18 • Han, H. S. , Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, E. , Jacobs, J. , Karanxha, Z. , Lypka, A. , Topdemir, C. , & Feldman, A. (2014). Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Higher Education: A Collaborative Self-Studying Teacher Education, 10(3), 290 -312.

References: • Kozulin, A. , Gindis, B. , Ageyev, V. S. , Pea, R. , Brown, J. S. , Heath, C. (2003). Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context. Retrieved from http: //www. eblib. com • New York State Citizens Coalition for Children. (2001). Cultural Competence Continuum. New York: New York State Citizens Coalition for Children. • Roxas, Kevin C. (2011). Creating Communities: Working with Refugee Students in Classrooms. Democracy & Education, 19(2), Democracy & Education, 2011, Vol. 19(2). • Urbis Australia. (2011). The Psychological and Emotional Wellbeing Needs of Children and Young People: Models of Effective Practice in Educational Settings. Retrieved from https: //www. det. nsw. edu. au/media/downloads/about-us/statisticsand-research/public-reviews-and-enquiries/school-counselling-servicesreview/models-of-effective-practice. pdf • UNICEF. (2014). The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child— Participation rights. Retrieved from http: //www. unicef. org/crc/files/Participation. pdf • UNICEF. (1989). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved from: : //www. unicef. org. au/our-work/what-we-do/Convention-on-the. Rights-of-the-Child/childfriendlycrc. aspx • Woollard, John (2010). Psychology for the Classroom: Behaviourism. Retrieved from http: //www. eblib. com