Indigenous Communities: Mungullah Best Start Playgroup

In this paper, we discuss and analyse the development of a resource documenting an Indigenous early childhood playgroup programme. The resource, known as the “Best Start DVD” was developed through a partnership between community and government support agencies to support engagement of parents as educators of their children. Through analysis of the development process and the product, we provide commentary on our learning regarding working successfully in partnerships with Indigenous communities. Additionally, we discuss what we learned about infl uences on Indigenous parents’ engagement as educators of their children. Introduction The Best Start Playgroup is part of the Mungullah community located in Carnarvon, Western Australia, approximately 1500km north of Perth, the State capital. Carnarvon is a remote coastal town with a population of approximately 7000 of which 15% are Indigenous (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001). The main industries are pastoral, mining and fi shing. The Mungullah Aboriginal community of around 150 residents is located on the outskirts of the town. The Best Start Playgroup is part of the State Health Department’s Early Years Strategy (Department of Health, 2006) that provides services for young Aboriginal children with a view to improving their life opportunities. Preparation for school is a particular focus, and ownership and involvement of parents and the wider community are viewed as essential to the sustainability and success of the programme. The focus and underlying approach to the Best Start Playgroup refl ect research that informs quality early childhood practice for Aboriginal children (Butterworth & Candy, 1998; Cleary, 2005; Fasoli & Ford, 2001; Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2001;Windisch et al., 2003). Issues encapsulated in this body of research are reiterated in the fi ndings of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey Improving the educational experiences of Aboriginal children and young people (Zubrick et al., 2006, p. vii), in which it is stated that: Re-engaging Aboriginal parents and caregivers as educators of their children in the fi rst fi ve years of life is critical if there is to be a strong relationship between home and school that can be utilised to develop common understandings, shared knowledge and mutual support in developing approaches to improving educational attainment. Aboriginal parents have always valued education. They want their children to succeed in mainstream education and have the same employment opportunities as other Australian children whilst retaining their cultural integrity. It is evident from the research that there are clear priorities in working productively with Indigenous Volume 36, 2007 the AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL of INDIGENOUS EDUCATION 33 communities. Key to the development of the resource we discuss in this paper are priorities in relation to Indigenous early childhood education, re-engaging parents as educators, improving achievement of educational standards and retaining cultural integrity. These have informed the approach to the development of the Best Start DVD and the remainder of this paper is structured around a discussion of each of these priorities. Development of the DVD was funded by the Aboriginal Education and Training Council of Western Australia (AETC). The Council is accountable to the Minister for Education and Training and responsible for providing policy advice on issues related to Aboriginal education and training and a forum for Aboriginal members to determine issues and provide advice to the Minister on policy directions. Funding was provided by the AETC on the basis that the DVD would document and support further development of the Mungullah Best Start Playgroup as well as provide a resource to support the establishment of other similar playgroups in Aboriginal communities. Funding also was provided to support capacitybuilding in the Mungullah community during the production of the DVD.