Faculty of Education - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAboriginal children's health, playgroup participation and early learning outcomes in two remote Northern Territory communities(SAGE Publications, 2021-03-09)Objectives: This study aimed to explore the impact of early health risks on young Aboriginal children’s attendance in playgroups and their early learning outcomes. Design: The study used a cross-sectional design to identify associations between children’s early health characteristics, their attendance at a Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroup and their early learning outcomes. Setting: A total of 128 Aboriginal children from two remote Northern Territory (NT) communities attending FaFT playgroups participated in the study. Method: Health data were coded as risk factors and associated with children’s attendance and learning outcome data. Results: Children in the cohort experienced relatively high rates of health risks: ear infections (otitis media, 57%), anaemia (37%), skin infections (28%), low birthweight (22%), low weight for age (19%) and a high proportion were born to teenage mothers (26%). However, these rates were lower than previously recorded rates for Aboriginal children in remote NT communities. Despite the presence of multiple health risks, low weight for age was the only risk factor found to be negatively associated with children’s learning outcomes (language skills) and only two health risks (teenage motherhood and lower child haemoglobin levels) were negatively associated with children’s attendance at playgroup. Most children (65%) experienced one or two health risks during the study and no significant associations were found between the number of health risks experienced and children’s attendance or learning outcomes. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of culturally responsive, evidence-based and integrated health and education programmes within remote Aboriginal Australian communities as a means to mitigate risks to poor learning and development outcomes.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableParent Mastery of Conversational Reading at Playgroup in Two Remote Northern Territory Communities(SPRINGER, 2022-02)This paper explores strategies that support Aboriginal parents’ mastery of evidence-based early learning strategies, and their impact on young Aboriginal children’s learning outcomes. The three-year study followed 32 parent-child dyads attending Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroups in two remote Northern Territory communities in 2015–2017. Trained FaFT staff provided parents with coaching in the use of Conversational Reading—an evidence-based shared reading strategy in first language—at FaFT. The study examined patterns of parent mastery across the three-year study period, the relationship between levels of parent-child participation at FaFT (program dosage) and parent mastery, and the impact of parent mastery of Conversational Reading on young Aboriginal children’s language and learning outcomes. By including measures of parent-child participation and parent mastery of key program strategies at three time points, the study also provides a picture of the fidelity of program implementation across the study period. The findings indicate that parents’ mastery of strategies (and thus the fidelity of program implementation) increased over time in line with the program dosage parents received. Higher levels of parent-child participation at FaFT and parent mastery of strategies at the end of the program were positively associated with children’s language and learning outcomes. This study demonstrates that the provision of coaching at playgroup is an effective way to build parent capacity in the implementation of evidence-based early learning strategies, and that supporting parent mastery of teaching strategies has the potential to improve the learning outcomes of young children in remote Aboriginal communities.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableDeveloping and Validating a Tool to Assess Young Children's Early Literacy Engagement(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2021-03-31)There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal schooling and that young children develop literacy-like behaviours through exposure to interactions in shared contexts in which literacy is a component. Despite this, there are few assessments that measure the very early literacy skills that children develop before 36 months of age. This article reports on the design and validation of a new instrument – the Early Literacy Engagement Assessment (ELEA). This tool was developed to provide insights into the impact of Conversational Reading, a key pedagogical strategy implemented at Families as First Teachers playgroups, on young children’s early receptive and expressive vocabulary and literacy skills. The instrument was trialled with 104 children living in locations across Melbourne, Victoria, and 39 Aboriginal children living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. The trial process was undertaken in two phases: (1) a technical assessment to test item consistency, characteristics and placement and (2) concurrent validity testing against items from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2 tool. The findings from the trial and validation process indicate that overall the ELEA discriminates well between children of high and low ability, and it is a useful tool in the authentic assessment of expressive and receptive vocabulary skills in young children.
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ItemExploring Collaborative Research Partnerships in Remote Indigenous Communities(Routledge, 2022-07-18)‘Gularri (fresh water) has met the dhukun (metaphorically meaning confusion, doubt, misunderstandings or myths) and over the past three years become clear again, drinkable and nourishing.' This story of freshwater, contamination and nourishment was told during a yarning circle by a community member. It was used to describe their research journey in a collaborative research project that sought to create, enact and evaluate a ‘bridge’ that early childhood education curriculum supported at one end by the strengths and content of local culture, and at the other by a proven pedagogy and learning strategy from the broader culture. This chapter draws on our experiences of implementing 3a (Abecedarian Approach Australia) in Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroups in two remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia and explores the contextual realities and relational aspects of researching family practices and young children’s early learning in remote communities. Specifically, we discuss the factors that shaped the implementation of the research and consider the approaches to grow research relationships of trust and collaboration. These partnerships within the research team (university and FaFT) enabled culturally appropriate adaptations and local language interpretations that ensured the strengths of Aboriginal identity, culture and language were upheld in the implementation of the programme. Insights from our efforts to collaboratively develop a culturally responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programme are discussed as design principles that might influence Indigenous early childhood educational research more broadly.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMothers as First Teachers: Exploring the Features of Motherchild Interactions That Support Young Aboriginal Children’s Multilingual Learning at Playgroup(Deakin University, 2021-11-30)For many Indigenous children living in remote communities, the prerequisites to achieving strong language and learning outcomes include the maintenance of their first languages and progress in learning English as an additional language. This paper reports on data from a Linkage study conducted with families at two Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroups in two remote Northern Territory communities. The data highlight the ways parents and carers encouraged very young children to engage in home languages as a foundation on which to develop skills in English during play and book reading activities. Transcripts of mother-child book reading and play sessions and reflections of FaFT Family Liaison Officers are examined to explore the language interactions and the strategies used by mothers to support children’s multilingual learning. The data highlight the importance of early childhood teaching and learning that honours children’s linguistic and cultural resources and prioritises families’ aspirations for children’s multilingual language learning.