NAIDOC Week is on the way. How will you keep the fire burning?

NAIDOC Week, the annual celebration and period of recognition for the achievements, culture, and history of Australia’s First Nations people. 

Starting on 7 July 2024, NAIDOC Week celebrations will centre on the theme Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud, celebrating the unyielding spirit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and inviting all Australians to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced.

The theme honours the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture – with fire a symbol of connection to Country, to each other, and to the rich tapestry of traditions that define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

NAIDOC Week is a great opportunity for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to start or continue the conversation about what embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait perspectives genuinely means to services and how it is reflective, respectful and informed by the unique Country the service is located on. 

When services speak about ‘embedded’ practices in the ECEC context, it implies that these practices and pedagogies are firmly fixed and deeply connected to all other aspects of how a service runs, from the language used, the food served, the artwork displayed and the resources chosen. 

ACECQA has provided the following guidance for services when it comes to considering NAIDOC Week in an ECEC context: 

Services may like to consider:

• understanding the ‘why’ behind NAIDOC week, sharing authentic stories of place that can enrich and support authentic approaches 

• privileging stories of truth telling, as NAIDOC has a long and important history for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people back before the 1920s. Services may reflect upon how to tell stories through Non-Indigenous and Indigenous lenses to bring together shared understandings for our future 

• how events such as NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week showcase daily pedagogy and practice in the service, rather than ‘the week’ being the showcase

• when critically reflecting on a service’s day to day work, can services see NAIDOC and Reconciliation in the everyday, rather than a focused practice that takes place just on a particular day or week?

• how embedded are Aboriginal and Torres Strait perspectives? If they were taken out of the service practice tomorrow what would change, what would be impacted, how would children, families and community be disadvantaged because this practice stopped? 

• how are services thinking beyond the ‘Do NAIDOC Week’ approach with relation to the place-based context of where the service is located to find out the stories of place and the cultural connections that should be recognised and celebrated in sharing, not only in their service community, but their wider community

• acknowledging that engaging with community members and events, reflecting on relevant articles, websites and sharing stories and newsletters during NAIDOC week can be the start of an ongoing conversation rather than a weeklong conversation.

For more advice about acknowledging NAIDOC Week in ECEC services please see here. 

This information was sourced from the ACECQA Newsletter. Find it here.