Indigenous Australian Perspectives in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

A personal account of life experiences and research in relation to the concepts of respect, identity, relatedness and education offered by an Indigenous Australian woman reared by a non-Indigenous family in a non-Indigenous community. Western education philosophies—the goal of becoming the ‘self-realised individual’: the independent self who succeeds as powerful and autonomous—are comparatively analysed with Indigenous Australian education philosophies—the goal of becoming the ‘related individual’ to family, community and environmental resonance. Drawing on recent research initiated and conducted by Indigenous community organisations, Indigenous models for early childhood education are positioned as highly desirable for informing the future development of mainstream early childhood education policies.