Co-constructed engagement with Australian Aboriginal families in early childhood education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Partnerships with Aboriginal families are significant to children’s learning and development outcomes yet remain under-theorised. Complicating matters are enduring neo-colonising practices for engaging with families in early childhood settings. These taken-for-granted practices serve as a barrier to connecting with Australian Aboriginal families in meaningful ways. This article presents a decolonising analysis of preschool teachers’ and leaders’ changed perspectives of their engagement with families following their participation in a year-long culturally responsive professional learning community paired with critical action research. Findings demonstrate how participants raised their critical consciousness to problematise neo-colonising approaches to engaging with Aboriginal families and the leadership positions they took up to restructure power relationships with Aboriginal families.