Embedding cultural safety and responsiveness to strengthen belonging in early childhood education

In early childhood education, we often talk about inclusion. But inclusion is only the beginning. To truly support every child and family, we must go deeper toward cultural responsiveness and cultural safety.

 

Across Australia, early learning services proudly celebrate cultural events Harmony Day, NAIDOC Week, Diwali, Lunar New Year and many more. Walls are decorated with flags, classrooms are filled with colour, and cultural days bring communities together. These are important, visible acts of inclusion.

 

But we must ask ourselves: Are these gestures enough?

 

True cultural inclusion isn’t confined to special occasions. It lives in the everyday practices, in the relationships we build, the stories we share, and the environments we create. Moving beyond calendar tokenism means embedding cultural responsiveness into the heart of our practice. It means ensuring every child and every family not only feels welcomed, but genuinely seen, heard, and valued every day.

 

What is Cultural Responsiveness? 

 

Cultural responsiveness is how educators recognise and respond to each child and family’s unique identity through the words they use, the relationships they build, and the experiences they create.

 

It’s not a one-off celebration or a cultural display or a poster on the wall. 

 

It’s a daily practice of respecting, valuing, and embedding cultural identities, lived experiences, and ways of knowing into everyday teaching, into the learning environment and relationships.

 

To guide this, engage in critical reflection by asking: 

 

• Whose voices are we hearing?
• Whose stories are we telling?
• Whose ways of being are reflected in our routines, in our environment?

 

When we are culturally responsive, we:

 

• Listen to families as experts on their child’s learning journey
• Value different worldviews and ways of knowing
• Adapt our practice to meet diverse cultural needs
• Build reciprocal, respectful partnerships
• Embed culture in meaningful, everyday ways
• Learn with them, not about them

 

In Practice, cultural responsiveness might look like:

 

Co-creating curriculum with families by inviting them into program planning sessions, not just for feedback but for contribution. What stories do they want their child to see reflected? 

 

Design environments that ‘speak’ culture by using textiles, lighting, seating arrangements, that reflect not just aesthetic diversity, but cultural meaning and emotional safety.

 

Use yarning circle as a teaching strategy not only to honour Aboriginal perspectives, but also as a respectful way of slowing down, listening deeply, and holding space for shared stories across all cultures.

 

Create a “Family Floor Book”, a floor book that lives in the learning space, inviting children and families to contribute stories, photos, drawings, recipes, cultural celebrations, or special words in their home languages. Children revisit the book with pride, using it during group times to share their culture, ask questions, and connect with peers. This living document grows with the community, fostering belonging, cultural identity, and peer respect.

 

When culture is lived, not laminated, belonging becomes a shared experience.

 

What is Cultural Safety? 

 

Cultural safety isn’t something educators or services can claim by saying, “We are a culturally safe place.” It’s not about ticking boxes or having good intentions.

 

It’s defined by how children and families feel in every interaction, every routine, and every corner of the learning environment. Only they can decide if a space truly feels culturally safe.

 

Cultural safety goes beyond cultural awareness or competence. It’s not about what educators know. It’s about the emotional and cultural experience that educators create in everyday practices. Through fostering spaces where no one feels judged, misunderstood, tokenised, or pressured to explain or hide who they are.

 

Where every child and family feel: “I belong here. I am safe here. I can be fully myself here.” That’s where cultural safety lives.

 

As early childhood educators, we don’t claim cultural safety. We cultivate it.
We do this through the way we listen, the way we plan, and the way we build relationships. It’s a daily commitment grounded in trust, respect, and ongoing reflection.

 

To guide this, engage in critical reflection by asking: 

 

• Do families feel their culture is recognised, valued, and woven into daily practice?
• Do children see their language, family structure, and traditions reflected in the learning environment?
• Do children see their identities reflected in the curriculum and the learning environment?
• Can families speak openly with us, without fear of judgement or misunderstanding?
• Are we making space for different ways of knowing, doing, and being? Are we sharing power?

 

When cultural safety is present:

 

• Children and families feel a deep sense of belonging and emotional security
• Culture is not only acknowledged but also celebrated and respected
• Families feel confident to express their perspectives and concerns, knowing they will be heard
• Relationships are built on genuine understanding and trust

 

In Practice: Cultural Safety might look like:

 

• A new family enters the service and immediately sees their culture represented and their child’s name spoken with correct pronunciation creating a first impression of respect and welcome.
• When a parent expresses concern or gives feedback. It is listened to without being defensive. Their voice is heard, valued, and responded to, not just acknowledged.
• When educators read books that reflect the children’s cultural backgrounds, it allows children to see themselves in the stories, bridging their home experiences with the learning environment. 
• During a difficult moment, a child finds comfort in a familiar cultural object, song, or phrase because it was intentionally included in their environment.

 

It’s a subtle but powerful shift, inclusion seen through the child’s eyes, not assumed by the educator.

 

How They Work Together:

 

 

Creating Belonging Every Day: Cultural Safety in Action

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

Cultural safety begins with us, in our early childhood education environments, in our daily routines, and in every relationship we build.  

 

It’s not a program or a policy. It’s a Commitment. A commitment to listen deeply, to reflect honestly, to act with intention and co-create environments where every child and every family always feels seen, heard, and valued. 

 

Because when we embed cultural responsiveness into everything we do, we don’t just include children we respect for who they are. And in doing so, we plant the seeds of true belonging.

 

• Start today
• Reflect, reimagine, rebuild
• One interaction, one choice, one connection at a time
• Because cultural safety doesn’t happen by accident nor in isolation
• It’s built through relationships, reflection, & willingness to do better every day.
• As educators, our role is to hold a space where every child & their family feels, “I belong here.”

 

When cultural responsiveness becomes everyday practice, cultural safety becomes a lived experience. And that’s where true belonging begins.

 

Author Farah Junaid.