Gowrie Victoria program supports children to authentically connect with Country

Gowrie Victoria’s Out & About program supports children attending the service to authentically connect with Country on a daily basis. In the piece below, excerpts from this post are summarised to support educators in other services to deepen their own practices. 

Connection with Country takes place in the large gardens of each service, which are open to the children each day – rain or shine. At the Clare Court service, it happens in the community, wandering the banks of Birrarung, at The Harbour and Docklands Kinder, paddling in rock pools at Williamstown Beach, or exploring Cruickshank Park and Stony Creek. 

It is also fostered through regular On Country and Bush Kinder sessions at Carlton North, Carlton Learning Precinct and Broadmeadows Valley, making shelters, listening for birds and frogs, and sharing ideas and stories about the land.

As Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) Anneke van de Vusse explained, the aim of supporting children to connect with Country is to nurture a growing understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, along with a love of the natural world. 

Ms van de Vusse works at Carlton Learning Precinct, and said children are “naturally curious and love to spend time in nature”. 

“They love finding bugs, noticing things like rain and rainbows, and pointing out things that adults might not see,” she said. “We can extend on their interest and bring a First Nations perspective that is special to the land that we learn on.”

Some of the ways in which the learning is extended, and the perspectives authentically embedded, is through introducing original names in First Nations languages for the places, creeks and animals the children connect with each day. 

A respect for Country and its histories is also bolstered through an understanding of the Indigenous calendar and changing seasons, and discussions on Country about First Nations truths, stories and histories.

Campfire connections 

At Carlton North, campfires occur almost daily, bringing together children and educators in a strong show of community. Molly Petruccelle, an ECT at the service, said the fires not only nurture connection to Country, but also to community, to self and to families. 

“Coming together around the fire, in what we call our ‘meeting place’ gives us the opportunity to connect to Country and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives,” Ms Petruccelle said. 

“Children understand the importance of truth-telling and engaging in conversations around the fire about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories. We enjoy singing songs in Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung language as a way of connecting. Another way that we connect is through food and exploring bush tucker, and we will often make our own damper to cook on the campfire.”

Storytelling and art

Art and storytelling are also an important part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives program, whether it is through picture books and song, or histories and truth-telling.

For Carla Beslagic, an ECT at The Harbour, The Docklands are a place rich with First Nations knowledge and stories, which are often shared with the children during regular Out & About excursions. 

“We wonder who lives in Birrarung and who created Birrarung, and then we take those ideas the children have in these discussions and bring them back into the classroom,” she explained.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander map is also used to map out the different creation stories the children have been reading throughout the program. 

“The children are getting a broader understanding that there are many different kinds of knowledge that have been embedded and part of this land for tens of thousands of years,” Ms Beslagic added. 

Over at Clare Court, having a strong knowledge of the local landscape is further cemented through a range of art mediums. Artist Ashlee Hughes, a former Gowrie Educator recently visited the early learning service to engage children in a collaborative artwork to share their deep connection to Country. 

“The children know the local area intimately, through frequent Out & About visits,” she explained. “They have a relationship with the way the creek flows, they know what animals live where and how to spot them, and they notice the changes over time.”

At a service level, each room was involved in a large-scale project to create a seasonal calendar. 

“We’re constantly seeing that connection to Country throughout the different seasons and I wanted to harness that in the artwork,” Ms Hughes explained. 

“Each room noticed different things – fungi, or birdlife – and this came through in their contributions. I feel so hopeful that this generation of children are becoming the experts – the scientists, the conservationists and the storytellers – of the land around them.”

Read the original coverage of this story here.