Working with Children, Families, and Communities in Contemporary Society

“This digital portfolio is designed as a practical tool for early childhood educators and provides evidence-based advice for helping children and families to cope with the complexities of modern life in Australia.”

 Why This Matters in Early Childhood Education

The power of early childhood settings is that the early years of life are the best time to make interventions and to promote positive change in a child's life that will last a lifetime, impacting their learning, health, and wellbeing. Children who have lost one or both parents due to financial difficulties, divorce, acculturation, mental illness, and/or disaster are often called upon to be helped by modern teachers. As Johnson reminds us in his bioecological model (1979), no one factor is ever going to stop a child's development. It plays out in a series of interrelating and interconnected systems, from home and classroom to Australian society and its associated policies and values. Any change to one layer, any job loss, new policy, house move, etc., will impact others. This is why informed, responsive educators are important: They are in proximity to a child's immediate systems and can be active buffers in other systems in a child's world. This folder looks at five contexts to consider in children's daily life that are important for families and communities:

A Focus on Diversity and Inclusion

The early childhood sector caters to families with backgrounds and circumstances that are as diverse as can be. The following is based on the assumption that:

  • When it comes to hardship, culture and crisis, no two families are alike.
  • Vulnerability is not normally due to one factor, but rather a combination of factors.
  • Equity is provisioning for practice to be different for the family and provisioning the same practice for all families.

Culturally responsive and trauma-informed, and relationship-based thinking is encouraged to be integrated into all interactions with children and families and highlights both the strengths and challenges of each family.

Connecting Theory, Policy, and Practice

Develop links between theory, policy and practice. Make connections between theory, policy and practice.

The content in this portfolio is based on:

  • Internal and external struggle for self and personality (time vs. space, pleasure vs. pain, selfishness vs. mutuality, self-sufficiency vs. need to be helped, etc.)
  • The EYLF V2.0, the National Quality Framework, Closing the Gap, the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children; and

Information currently accessible in Australia, such as data, research and evidence-based practice.

Research-to-teaching connections can support teachers to move from knowing what to do about a context to knowing what to do about it.

Supporting Educators in Practice

  • There are 5 sections in this portfolio, each containing:

    • A description of the place and why it is important to early childhood
    • The impact on children's development and family functioning that is documented.
    • The introduction of an overview of Australia's policy response.Introduction of an overview of the Australian policy response.
    • Five ways that teachers can say, "Yes, I can do that now.
    • Identify 5 community organisations and/or professionals to work with
    • Structured books, programs and media to develop children's coping skills and awareness.

Critical Reflection

A large number of Australian children continue to experience poverty, family violence, housing stress and being exposed to disasters despite all the ongoing policy investment. It has not been uniform, and some communities, especially for First Nations families, have a higher burden of this disadvantage. While educators cannot solve these systemic issues themselves, they are the first, and often only, stable adult figure in a child's day. Educators can make a difference for the children and families in their care through informed, reflective, and connected practice.

Navigation Guide

Economic Contexts

Social Contexts

Cultural & Diversity Contexts

Health & Wellbeing Contexts

Crisis & Emergency Contexts