Childcare

Case Study - A ‘Gurung Early Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing Centre’ is the name of an early childhood education centre where approximately 25% of the children and their parents have Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. Jenny works for an organisation that specialises in" rel="nofollow">in teachin" rel="nofollow">ing people who work in" rel="nofollow">in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector about all aspects of Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultures. She has been asked to undertake an ‘Audit of potential Cultural Safety issues’ at the Gurung Early Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing Centre, where you work. The purpose of this audit is to identify issues relatin" rel="nofollow">ing to ‘cultural safety’ that the train" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing could improve. Part of Jenny’s job is to ensure that any train" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing given is effective. To do this, she needs to work out ways to measure the impact of her train" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing on the centre’s staff and services. Jenny decides that the best way to start is to meet with each staff member who works at Gurung, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing you, to ask some questions. Jenny asks you to identify and summarise 3 potential cultural safety issues that might occur at your workplace, Gurung and rate their potential impact on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 5 is ‘makes a big impact’. Usin" rel="nofollow">ing the table on the next page, follow the in" rel="nofollow">instructions above it. Question 1 Reflectin" rel="nofollow">ing on your understandin" rel="nofollow">ing and the knowledge gain" rel="nofollow">ined from your related studies, consider the impacts on Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural issues such as loss of land and culture, kin" rel="nofollow">inship and law on your professional practice. In the table below, summarise the potential cultural safety issues in" rel="nofollow">in the left- hand column, rate it from 0 to 5 in" rel="nofollow">in the middle column and suggest ways to improve the practice in" rel="nofollow">in the right-hand column. Identify and summarise 3 potential cultural safety issues (50-100 words) Rate the impact Suggest at least one way that you can improve the practice (50-100 words) 1. 2. 3. Case Study - B Jenny’s questions about potential cultural safety issues make you reflect on your awareness of such thin" rel="nofollow">ings at Gurung, somethin" rel="nofollow">ing you haven’t really done in" rel="nofollow">in any detail before. Overall, you thin" rel="nofollow">ink that Gurung is a ‘culturally safe place’ for Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander children but you’ve never really thought about whether this is also true of their parents, extended family and the local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander community as a whole. You decide that a good way to thin" rel="nofollow">ink about and begin" rel="nofollow">in to measure this is to review how you and the other staff at Gurung ‘model’ cultural safety at work. You ask yourself and your colleagues about the specific ways you thin" rel="nofollow">ink, act, communicate and engage with the Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander parents and the family members of the children in" rel="nofollow">in your care, as well as the local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. Question 2 Part A Provide an example of a potential ‘cultural bias’ that could affect how you treat the Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander parent of a child in" rel="nofollow">in your care at Gurung. (50-100 words) Part B Reflect on the term ‘cultural competence’ and explain" rel="nofollow">in your understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of it. (50-100 words) Question 3 Part A Provide an example of how your awareness of your own (or another) culture could have a negative impact on the development of an Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander child in" rel="nofollow">in your care. (100-150 words) Part B What specific legislation do you need to be aware of that will guide your practices around Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal cultural safety issues? Question 4 You have been asked to help develop ideas for creatin" rel="nofollow">ing effective partnerships with the local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander community where Gurung is located. Provide an example of (a) one potentially useful communication technique and (b) one potentially useful work practice both of which show respect for cultural differences. (50-100 words each) (a) A potentially useful communication technique (b) A potentially useful work practice Question 5 Part A As part of your work at Gurung helpin" rel="nofollow">ing develop effective partnerships with the local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander community, (see Question 4) you have been asked to fin" rel="nofollow">ind people who could act as ‘cultural brokers’ for Gurung. You will need to explain" rel="nofollow">in what bein" rel="nofollow">ing a ‘cultural broker’ means to the people you speak with durin" rel="nofollow">ing your search. To ensure it is clear in" rel="nofollow">in your min" rel="nofollow">ind, write a short defin" rel="nofollow">inition that explain" rel="nofollow">ins what a ‘cultural broker’ is/does. (100-150 words) Part B List 2 situations where you would need to engage a cultural broker (for eg. Interpreters or well in" rel="nofollow">informed colleagues) to support children and families from Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander culture. Case Study – C You did such a great job of locatin" rel="nofollow">ing a ‘cultural broker’ to help Gurung become a ‘best practice model of cultural safety in" rel="nofollow">in the ECEC sector’ that the centre’s Manager has asked you to do some more work on this important project. She wants you to help develop a strategy that will improve cultural safety at Gurung for everyone - all children in" rel="nofollow">in your care, their family’s and the local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. To help you, we have broken the ‘big goal’ of ‘best practice in" rel="nofollow">in cultural safety’ in" rel="nofollow">into the followin" rel="nofollow">ing four outcomes or ‘min" rel="nofollow">ini goals’: 1. To build effective partnerships between Gurung’s staff and all Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing an understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of how trauma can impact decision makin" rel="nofollow">ing, communicatin" rel="nofollow">ing, understandin" rel="nofollow">ing and retain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">information among Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples 2. To identify and utilise resources to promote partnerships with the Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander local community 3. To devise and document ways to support the delivery of services and programs that are ‘culturally safe’ and encourage in" rel="nofollow">increased participation in" rel="nofollow">in them 4. To in" rel="nofollow">integrate strategies that encourage self-determin" rel="nofollow">ination and community control at Gurung by Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples Question 6 For each ‘min" rel="nofollow">ini goal’, use your knowledge and in" rel="nofollow">in consultation with a cultural broker, write a short explanation of how it could be achieved at Gurung. (100-150 words) 1. Build effective partnerships between Gurung’s staff and all Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. 2. Identify and utilise resources to promote partnerships with the Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander local community. 3. Devise and document ways to support the delivery of services and programs that are ‘culturally safe’ and encourage in" rel="nofollow">increased participation in" rel="nofollow">in them. 4. Integrate strategies that encourage self- determin" rel="nofollow">ination and community control at Gurung by Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Case Study – D As mentioned in" rel="nofollow">in Case Study A, it is important that all the hard work bein" rel="nofollow">ing done to create a ‘best practice in" rel="nofollow">in cultural safety’ is measured so everyone knows whether thin" rel="nofollow">ings are improvin" rel="nofollow">ing, or not. This is called ‘evaluation’. Once this step has been done, everyone can look at the results and decide whether there are ways to revise the strategies in" rel="nofollow">in place to improve the overall results. The very first step that needs to be taken is to agree on the outcomes again" rel="nofollow">inst which cultural safety can be measured. Question 7 Name 3 possible outcomes that could be measured to see whether there has been an improvement in" rel="nofollow">in cultural safety at Gurung. (10-50 words each) 1. 2. 3. Question 8 Explain" rel="nofollow">in how you would in" rel="nofollow">involve Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples in" rel="nofollow">in your evaluations of your strategies? (50-100 words) Question 9 Name 2 ways that you could evaluate the programs and services you have designed to in" rel="nofollow">increase cultural safety at Gurung again" rel="nofollow">inst the desired outcomes. (50-75 words each) Question 10 As a result of your evaluation, you learned that not all your strategies to in" rel="nofollow">increase cultural safety at Gurung are effective. This is not unusual. Payin" rel="nofollow">ing particular attention to appropriate engagement with local Aborigin" rel="nofollow">inal and/or Torres Strait Islander people or cultural brokers, what should you do as a result of these fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings? (50-100 words)