Stories of Learning and Becoming: Emerging Programming with/in a First Nations Child Care Programs
Date
2018-08-17
Authors
Hayes, Stephanie D.
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Abstract
There is growing interest in emerging ECE programming that is situated in and emerges from and within the local culture and context. Emergent approaches, such as the municipal preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and New Zealand’s early learning framework Te Whāriki, provide inspiration for communities that are creating emerging programs. Of key importance for ECE programs in First Nations communities is that emerging programming is guided by Indigenous knowledges and local knowledges. This report describes a community engagement project with early childhood educators in a British Columbia First Nation community that was designed to introduce some emergent approaches into their preschool and child care programs. The report provides an overview of the project, describes its activities, and provides a literature review that served as its framework. The literature review focusses on emergent approaches in ECE, particularly in the context of British Columbia, important considerations for culturally appropriate pedagogies in Indigenous communities, the influence of postfoundational perspectives in ECE, and the process of pedagogical narration as a tool for planning emergent programs. The literature review is followed by an analysis of the project through three pedagogical narrations that emphasize learning and becoming as emerging through human and more-than-human relationships. The analysis engages with postfoundational theories, Indigenous scholars, and the feedback of the educators who took part in the project. The report concludes with some considerations on the process and impact of documentation as a way to live curriculum and engage emergent pedagogies in First Nations programs, as well as key project learnings that may serve as a resource for emerging early learning programming in First Nations communities.
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early childhood education, emergent approaches, pedagogical narration, Indigenous knowledges, living curriculum