Introduction
The ability to identify Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety issues in the workplace, model cultural safety in your own work practice, and develop strategies to enhance cultural safety are important aspects when working in early childhood education and care. This assessment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your competency in these vital skills.
You are required to complete three assessments for
CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety.
This assessment is designed to gather evidence of your competence, specifically to:
· Identify cultural safety issues in the workplace
· Model cultural safety in own work
· Develop strategies for improved cultural safety
· Evaluate cultural safety strategies
Assessment
|
Description
|
34872/01
|
Online auto-marked multiple-choice quiz (7 questions)
|
34872/02
|
Online auto-marked multiple-choice quiz (8 questions)
|
34872/03
|
Written assessment (10 scenario-based questions)
|
34872/04
|
Work Placement Simulation - Presentation
|
Instructions
The assessment is based on a case study (shaded) that runs throughout the assessment.
Your responses to the questions that follow each short scenario should be based on your experience, research skills and the learning materials.
Your response to each question should be approximately 50 words (unless indicated) and bullet points are acceptable.
Scenario
You are employed as an early childhood education and care worker at Garung Early Learning Centre. Over the last 18 months, there has been an increase in enrolments of children from a range of ethnic backgrounds, including some who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The Director has put together a group of carers and administrative staff to identify the potential impact of cultural factors, specifically in relation to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Your group has been given two goals:
1. To identify potential
cultural factors
that include cultural customs and practices, which could impact on the children you care for.
2. Identify potential
issues
that influence relationships and communications with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children you care for.
|
Question 1
Using your research skills, learning materials and own experience, identify
three
cultural or historical factors that could impact on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children you care for and how their families engage with the Centre?
Scenario
The Director is pleased with the progress your group has made so far. You have been identified as a group member with insight and enthusiasm for the project.
The next part of the project is to ‘model cultural safety’ in what you do at work and reflect an awareness of your own and other cultures in your work practices. Your group discuss what is meant by ‘cultural safety’ and agree on the following definition:
A culturally safe environment is one which is safe for all people, where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, or who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge.
You overhear one of the Aboriginal children you care for talking about how many aunties he has in his family and asking another child questions about her family. This makes you think about the differences between some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family structures and many other families in the Centre. You know that a better understanding of the differences (and similarities) in how diverse families engage with the early childhood education and care system will help you identify where issues related to cultural safety may occur.
You speak to the Centre’s liaison officer to learn more about some of the key aspects of cultural safety from his perspective.
|
Question 2
Using your research skills, learning materials and own experience, describe
two
features of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families that should be considered in in an early childhood education and care environment. How do these features compare with the experiences of other Australian families?
Scenario
Mabo Day (3rd of June) is approaching. The Director of Garung Early Learning Centre wants the Centre to celebrate the day but does not know exactly how to do this. You have been asked to explore ways to celebrate Mabo Day that are ‘culturally safe’ for all who attend but, in particular, children with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
You decide to begin by contacting your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community groups, hoping to build a partnership with them using the Centre’s Mabo Day celebrations as a starting point.
This is the first time your Centre has ‘reached out’ to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, so you want to make a good impression. You also think it’s a good idea to document and evaluate the process, so others can ‘follow in your footsteps’, learning from your experiences and building on the partnerships that you begin.
|
Question 3
How you would find your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders or groups? Consider resources such as the Internet or Government agencies that could help you locate these people and groups.
Question 4
What are
three
questions you could ask the community about the Mabo Day event to help ensure the event is culturally safe for all participants?
Scenario
Overall, you think Garung Early Learning Centre is a culturally safe place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. However, you’ve never really thought about whether their families and communities feel culturally safe when they are at the Centre.
Firstly, you reflect on how you think, act, communicate and engage with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families and communities. You ask your colleagues to do the same.
Secondly, you reflect on the different levels of cultural awareness and cultural biases that might exist in the Centre and how these impact on cultural safety.
|
Question 5
Provide
one
example of cultural bias that could affect how you treat the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander families of a child at the Garung Early Learning Centre.
Scenario
As part of your work at the Garung Early Learning Centre, you have been helping develop effective partnerships with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
You have been asked to think about ways to improve communication and find people who could act as ‘cultural brokers’ (sometimes referred to as liaison officers) and interpreters for the Centre.
Question 6
Identify
two
situations where you may need to engage a cultural broker (or liaison officer) to improve communication and prevent misunderstanding or confusion.
Scenario
Garung Early Learning Centre has brought in a consultant to undertake an evaluation of potential cultural safety issues at the Centre.
Part of the work is to measure the impact of the strategies you have implemented. The consultant decides that the best way to start the process is to meet with each staff member to discuss the types of cultural safety issues you have identified at the Centre and the strategies you have helped develop to increase cultural safety.
|
Question 7
In the table below, you have been provided with two potential cultural safety issues that can occur at the Centre. Identify
one
strategy to reduce the impact of each issue. Please do not exceed 50 words (in total) for this question.
Potential cultural safety issue
|
Strategy to reduce impact
|
Issue 1:
Lack of awareness
Lack of staff and children awareness of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. This lack of awareness can lead to cultural bias, misunderstandings, miscommunication, racism or bullying.
|
Enter your response here
|
Issue 2: Lack of recognition of familial structures
Not recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander familial structures could create issues for staff when contacting families at home. Families may feel ashamed to share their backgrounds.
|
Enter your response here
|
Scenario
The consultant conducting the review is impressed with your understanding of cultural safety and the strategies you have helped identify. Your Director has asked you to help develop a ‘best practice model of cultural safety’ at Garung.
You firstly, consult with a cultural broker (or liaison officer) and together you break the goal of ‘best practice in cultural safety’ into four objectives.
Question 8
The goal of ‘best practice in cultural safety’ has been broken down into the following four objectives. For each objective, list
one
strategy to achieve the outcome at Garung Early Learning Centre.
Objective
|
Strategies
|
1. Build effective partnerships between Garung’s staff and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
|
Enter your response here
|
2. Promote partnerships with the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities
|
Enter your response here
|
3. Support the delivery of services and programs that are culturally safe and encourage increased participation in them.
|
Enter your response here
|
4. Encourage self- determination and community control at Garung.
|
Enter your response here
|
Scenario
It is important that the work being done to create ‘best practice in cultural safety’ is measured so everyone knows whether the new strategies are effective. Once you have measured the results of each strategy, you can look at ways to revise and improve the strategies.
As part of this process you have asked a parent of an Aboriginal student to ‘represent’ the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities in evaluating strategies to encourage students and family participation in the Centre. He was recommended by a colleague because he identifies as Aboriginal and trains the local soccer team.
You only realise later that whilst he is a popular soccer coach, he is not considered an Elder or a spokesperson for local Aboriginal communities. You also hear feedback from the community that a wider range of people should have been invited that represent the diversity of communities and cultures.
Based on this evaluation, you decide you need to revise your current strategies to inviting individuals to evaluate your strategies and to better promote partnerships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Question 9
Asking for people’s opinions on your proposed strategies and what you are trying to achieve shows respect and is an effective way to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and obtain useful feedback on your strategies. To do this effectively you need to have an appropriate group of individuals that represent the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
List
two
ways to increase the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in evaluating your cultural safety strategies.
Scenario
Although your Centre feels it is on track to improve cultural safety for all children and their families, you recognises there is always room for improvement. You are especially keen to get more family and community members involved in the planning of Centre activities. You believe this is key to increasing their engagement with the Centre and foster positive outcomes for children.
Question 10
List
two
ways to increase the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in planning and implementing Centre activities and programs.
Introduction
The ability to identify Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety issues in the workplace, model cultural safety in your own work practice, and develop strategies to enhance cultural safety are important aspects when working in early childhood education and care. This assessment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your competency in these vital skills.
You are required to complete three assessments for
CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety.
This assessment is designed to gather evidence of your competence, specifically to:
· Identify cultural safety issues in the workplace
· Model cultural safety in own work
· Develop strategies for improved cultural safety
· Evaluate cultural safety strategies
Assessment
|
Description
|
34872/01
|
Online auto-marked multiple-choice quiz (7 questions)
|
34872/02
|
Online auto-marked multiple-choice quiz (8 questions)
|
34872/03
|
Written assessment (10 scenario-based questions)
|
34872/04
|
Work Placement Simulation - Presentation
|
Instructions
The assessment is based on a case study (shaded) that runs throughout the assessment.
Your responses to the questions that follow each short scenario should be based on your experience, research skills and the learning materials.
Your response to each question should be approximately 50 words (unless indicated) and bullet points are acceptable.
Scenario
You are employed as an early childhood education and care worker at Garung Early Learning Centre. Over the last 18 months, there has been an increase in enrolments of children from a range of ethnic backgrounds, including some who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The Director has put together a group of carers and administrative staff to identify the potential impact of cultural factors, specifically in relation to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Your group has been given two goals:
1. To identify potential
cultural factors
that include cultural customs and practices, which could impact on the children you care for.
2. Identify potential
issues
that influence relationships and communications with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children you care for.
|
Question 1
Using your research skills, learning materials and own experience, identify
three
cultural or historical factors that could impact on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children you care for and how their families engage with the Centre?
Scenario
The Director is pleased with the progress your group has made so far. You have been identified as a group member with insight and enthusiasm for the project.
The next part of the project is to ‘model cultural safety’ in what you do at work and reflect an awareness of your own and other cultures in your work practices. Your group discuss what is meant by ‘cultural safety’ and agree on the following definition:
A culturally safe environment is one which is safe for all people, where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, or who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge.
You overhear one of the Aboriginal children you care for talking about how many aunties he has in his family and asking another child questions about her family. This makes you think about the differences between some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family structures and many other families in the Centre. You know that a better understanding of the differences (and similarities) in how diverse families engage with the early childhood education and care system will help you identify where issues related to cultural safety may occur.
You speak to the Centre’s liaison officer to learn more about some of the key aspects of cultural safety from his perspective.
|
Question 2
Using your research skills, learning materials and own experience, describe
two
features of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families that should be considered in in an early childhood education and care environment. How do these features compare with the experiences of other Australian families?
Scenario
Mabo Day (3rd of June) is approaching. The Director of Garung Early Learning Centre wants the Centre to celebrate the day but does not know exactly how to do this. You have been asked to explore ways to celebrate Mabo Day that are ‘culturally safe’ for all who attend but, in particular, children with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
You decide to begin by contacting your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community groups, hoping to build a partnership with them using the Centre’s Mabo Day celebrations as a starting point.
This is the first time your Centre has ‘reached out’ to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, so you want to make a good impression. You also think it’s a good idea to document and evaluate the process, so others can ‘follow in your footsteps’, learning from your experiences and building on the partnerships that you begin.
|
Question 3
How you would find your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders or groups? Consider resources such as the Internet or Government agencies that could help you locate these people and groups.
Question 4
What are
three
questions you could ask the community about the Mabo Day event to help ensure the event is culturally safe for all participants?
Scenario
Overall, you think Garung Early Learning Centre is a culturally safe place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. However, you’ve never really thought about whether their families and communities feel culturally safe when they are at the Centre.
Firstly, you reflect on how you think, act, communicate and engage with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families and communities. You ask your colleagues to do the same.
Secondly, you reflect on the different levels of cultural awareness and cultural biases that might exist in the Centre and how these impact on cultural safety.
|
Question 5
Provide
one
example of cultural bias that could affect how you treat the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander families of a child at the Garung Early Learning Centre.
Scenario
As part of your work at the Garung Early Learning Centre, you have been helping develop effective partnerships with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
You have been asked to think about ways to improve communication and find people who could act as ‘cultural brokers’ (sometimes referred to as liaison officers) and interpreters for the Centre.
Question 6
Identify
two
situations where you may need to engage a cultural broker (or liaison officer) to improve communication and prevent misunderstanding or confusion.
Scenario
Garung Early Learning Centre has brought in a consultant to undertake an evaluation of potential cultural safety issues at the Centre.
Part of the work is to measure the impact of the strategies you have implemented. The consultant decides that the best way to start the process is to meet with each staff member to discuss the types of cultural safety issues you have identified at the Centre and the strategies you have helped develop to increase cultural safety.
|
Question 7
In the table below, you have been provided with two potential cultural safety issues that can occur at the Centre. Identify
one
strategy to reduce the impact of each issue. Please do not exceed 50 words (in total) for this question.
Potential cultural safety issue
|
Strategy to reduce impact
|
Issue 1:
Lack of awareness
Lack of staff and children awareness of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. This lack of awareness can lead to cultural bias, misunderstandings, miscommunication, racism or bullying.
|
Enter your response here
|
Issue 2: Lack of recognition of familial structures
Not recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander familial structures could create issues for staff when contacting families at home. Families may feel ashamed to share their backgrounds.
|
Enter your response here
|
Scenario
The consultant conducting the review is impressed with your understanding of cultural safety and the strategies you have helped identify. Your Director has asked you to help develop a ‘best practice model of cultural safety’ at Garung.
You firstly, consult with a cultural broker (or liaison officer) and together you break the goal of ‘best practice in cultural safety’ into four objectives.
Question 8
The goal of ‘best practice in cultural safety’ has been broken down into the following four objectives. For each objective, list
one
strategy to achieve the outcome at Garung Early Learning Centre.
Objective
|
Strategies
|
1. Build effective partnerships between Garung’s staff and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
|
Enter your response here
|
2. Promote partnerships with the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities
|
Enter your response here
|
3. Support the delivery of services and programs that are culturally safe and encourage increased participation in them.
|
Enter your response here
|
4. Encourage self- determination and community control at Garung.
|
Enter your response here
|
Scenario
It is important that the work being done to create ‘best practice in cultural safety’ is measured so everyone knows whether the new strategies are effective. Once you have measured the results of each strategy, you can look at ways to revise and improve the strategies.
As part of this process you have asked a parent of an Aboriginal student to ‘represent’ the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities in evaluating strategies to encourage students and family participation in the Centre. He was recommended by a colleague because he identifies as Aboriginal and trains the local soccer team.
You only realise later that whilst he is a popular soccer coach, he is not considered an Elder or a spokesperson for local Aboriginal communities. You also hear feedback from the community that a wider range of people should have been invited that represent the diversity of communities and cultures.
Based on this evaluation, you decide you need to revise your current strategies to inviting individuals to evaluate your strategies and to better promote partnerships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Question 9
Asking for people’s opinions on your proposed strategies and what you are trying to achieve shows respect and is an effective way to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and obtain useful feedback on your strategies. To do this effectively you need to have an appropriate group of individuals that represent the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
List
two
ways to increase the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in evaluating your cultural safety strategies.
Scenario
Although your Centre feels it is on track to improve cultural safety for all children and their families, you recognises there is always room for improvement. You are especially keen to get more family and community members involved in the planning of Centre activities. You believe this is key to increasing their engagement with the Centre and foster positive outcomes for children.
Question 10
List
two
ways to increase the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in planning and implementing Centre activities and programs.