Children’s rights in a multi-ethnic ECE centre
A story of practice about providing quality curriculum for refugee families, applying dignity and kindness as guiding values, and adapting to parent aspirations.
Key points
- providing quality curriculum for refugee families
- applying dignity and kindness as guiding values
- adapting to parent aspirations
The Carol White Family Centre caters to a largely refugee migrant community. Most of the children’s parents attend an education programme in adjacent buildings. Bilingual support staff assist kaiako as they work with children, parents, and whānau.
Their curriculum is grounded and enhanced by knowledge and awareness of the refugee experience and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The teachers work to ensure the values of dignity and kindness are fostered in the centre and at home. They listen to and cater for parents’ educational aspirations through adaptations to the education programme, inviting family participation, and making visible and explaining desired learning.
The centre acknowledges the teaching role of parents and recognises how children learn within a social context from experiences that have interest and meaning for them. They provide rich opportunities for verbal and non-verbal communication to flourish.
References
- Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., Ouko, A., Gerrity, R., Lees, J., Matata, K., Xiao, W. (2015). Teaching and learning in culturally diverse early childhood settings.
- Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., Gerrity, R., & Myint, H. (2017). Bridging transitions through cultural understanding and identity. In B. Perry, A. Garpelin, & N. Ballam (Eds.), POET: Pedagogies of Educational Transition. UK: Springer.
About this resource
A story of practice from the Carol White Family Centre about providing quality curriculum for refugee families, applying dignity and kindness as guiding values, and adapting to parent aspirations (showing the importance of adopting a human rights lens).