Assessment 1 RESEARECH PLAN

Week 1 Reflection
I do not like unfairness. I do not like exclusion- in any form. I can see how events from my life have shaped these dislikes and contributed to my belief system and my value of inclusion. It was not until I read Prasanas article about her own research journey that even though I value inclusion my efforts within my practice may have been tokenistic. She used the word passive acceptance in regard to E.C educators including childrens home languages within their programming and this resonated with me and made me ask myself is this I did? I feel a little ashamed to say that I think that I did. In describing the way Australia has made English the dominant language in Australia- likening it to oppression, racism and creating a sense that English is somehow superior I was appalled and my sense of social justice was outraged. I hate the thought that children in an attempt not to feel inferior prefer to lose their home language in order to not feel different to their peers. Then the article by Sumison & Wong (2011) illustrated to me importance of considering silences within such documents such as the EYLF. I can see that I was one of the E.C educators that resonated with the EYLF document appealing me emotionally, culturally and professionally- I embraced it wholeheartedly. This article opened my eyes to the possibility that the EYLF is just the starting point of better things to come within the industry. It highlights to me that it is not above criticism and questioning. It raises the question is the

EYLF tokenistic and not complex enough or strong enough to bring about pedagogical change This means to me that as an E.C educator I need to continue to research, reflect and question (in an unending cycle) in order to make my practice authentic and inclusive for everyone. This is a difficult issue to address as there is a lot to consider and many areas to challengepolitical and personal agendas- staff, families, society, local community.. The list is endless. In the day to day running of E.C setting there can be enough for educators to do- is it possible to support various languages, cultures, differences while adhering to policies, regulations, law, teaching, forming and maintaining relationships Australia has a myriad of cultural contributors. I think maybe we need to start with the children and support them to learn that its ok to be different and create an inclusive environment. Ask for parental input about language / culture and how they could assist with including these things in the program. This could help families to feel valued and help them to feel they belong to the setting and this attitude and feeling will be passed on to the children and positively enhance their learning experience. It means being authentic and taking the time to get to know the families and building relationships. It means then representing this knowledge within the program/setting. The change I want to make is to introduce inclusive practices in early childhood education in relation to sexuality and in putting myself into this research I have seen firsthand how

children have felt excluded in my professional life due to their parents sexuality ( on special celebration days) as well having experienced this in my personal life with my own children. Thursday 6th March 2014 Today I contacted my mentor teacher( Simone) to introduce myself. Simone asked me if I had any questions and I replied that I did not have any questions as yet (as she had been very informative during our discussion) as such, although the requirements of my placement meant that I had to conduct research and use her setting to implement change. I told her that I was looking at ways in which I might want to look at making my practice inclusive for children whose parents were in a same sex relationship. I was informed that she was not aware that any of her students families fitted into that structure and suggested that in using this setting I might want to look at investigating the different family structures of the children and ways to ensure they are represented and included in my practice. We ended the conversation with Simone giving me her contact details if I had any queiries between now and when I started. I am feeling less nervous about starting my placement since having this conversation. Friday 7th March 2014 Simone contacted me asking how I wanted to addressed by the children, Ms or Mrs Burgess. I informed her that I was happy to be called Kim and she told me her director would not accept that. This is something I have not encountered before. Something about this does not sit well with me because I feel that it does not make the children and I equal partners in learning? Then again the way I interact with the children, show respect for them and their views is probably more representative of learning partnership than my title. After working

as an assistant in a sessional kinder for six years I think I am going to experience a more formal early learning context during my placement.

Week 2 Reflection
After todays lecture and tutorial ( Tuesday 11th march) I posted a niggle that I had experienced in my professional life. Looking back on these notes I see that the discomfort I experienced at seeing how exclusion affected children in my work place is driving me to make a change so that I no longer have to experience this discomfort and either do the children whose family structure is different to the majority of their peers. It was difficult for me at that time in my professional life to know how to approach my colleague to consider ways in which to make our practices more inclusive for various family structures. I can see that when teachers take on the role of researcher by reflecting on their past practices they are able to initiate change at a personal, professional and social level that can benefit the lives of children (Stremmel, A (year). Thursday 13th March Today after our curriculum lecture I met with Prasanna to see if I was on the right track. This time with her was invaluable to me. I began with showing her my moodle reflection ( my professional experience) but went further and confided to her how this issue has affected me personally. I explained that I originally had had the idea to look at inclusive practices for san=me sex families in early childhood settings but that my placemewnt did not cater for this family type and so I had decided to look at iclusive practices for general family diversity. Prasanna encouraged me to do the reseach and create a palon of what I would do to introduce inclusive practices in relation to sexuality in early childhood settings.

Our discussion made me consider aspects of inclusiveness that I had not considered before and I fear without our discussion I may not have taken the changes as far as I could have by highlighting to me that we are all different. This is what I want to bring to the attention of the children I teach, that we are all different and that is ok. During the week 2 lecture Prasanna spoke about the EYLF going beyond childhood. I see how this is true in my life as it brings to the forefront some of my personal and professional values and beliefs. I can role model for all stakeholders associated with the setting as well as advocate for social justice and democracy through an authentic practice. I had not considered the EYLF a political document until engaging with this unit yet it has become so obvious to me and if I am to use it as a guide for my early years teaching practice I am ethically bound to be authentic and inclusive within my practice. Considering this makes me realise how contradictory politics can be- as early childhood educators we must be inclusive of race, gender, culture, sexuality and form respectful, collaborative relationships with the famililies, children and communities affiliated with our settings, yet the Australian government does not legally recognise gay or lesbian marriage. In one Australian government document social jusitice is to be advocated for yet in another arena discrimination is upheld by the Prime Minister. To me this says to me that the Australian government is not authentic about inclusion and it makes me ask how does this impact society? Not that I think we should give up as research suggests early childhood is a good place to start (Stremmel, A).