The EYLF reminds us that equitable means fair, not equal or the same. Equity means focusing on the actions that are necessary to support all children’s inclusion in early education regardless of their family’s circumstances. The Framework expects educators to take into consideration and show respect for families’ diverse home lives.
Megan Blaxland, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW
A staggering one in 8 adults and one in 6 children (16.7%) live in poverty in Australia1. It is a hidden crisis that disproportionately impacts families and hinders children’s access to quality early education and care, with children from low-income families less likely to enrol and continue attending a service.
All early educators will, at some point, work with families who are experiencing poverty, no matter where they are based. ECEC services are at the forefront of helping vulnerable families and therefore, it is critical that educators understand what poverty is and how best to provide support.
Poverty is a multi-faceted and complex issue impacting diverse groups of people. It can happen to anyone, anywhere. Families can find themselves in poverty due to job loss or low-paid work, domestic violence, disability and carer responsibilities, among other reasons. Intergenerational poverty and discrimination, including systemic racism, can also perpetuate poverty cycles. First Nations People and recently arrived refugees are among some of the groups most likely to live in poverty.
A comprehensive 5-year Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project titled ‘Engaging Families in Early Education’ (EFEE) has addressed the challenges faced by families and children living through hard times in Australia—particularly examining how these families can best access ECEC services.
The project comprises researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney, Western Sydney University, the University of Sydney, and Griffith University, with partner organisations Creche & Kindergarten Association, KU Children’s Services, Goodstart Early Learning, Family Day Care Australia and Early Childhood Australia.
The findings from this research have been translated into a series of five online professional learning courses by the researchers in collaboration with Dr Leonie Arthur and CELA. The courses, funded by the NSW Government, draw on the project’s evidence-based research and help educators and teachers better understand the reality of poverty and how best to support families and children.
The courses are:
1. Introduction to working with families experiencing poverty
2. A funds of knowledge approach to supporting children’s learning, development, and wellbeing
3. Using effective communication to build and maintain relationships with families
4. Strengthening mainstream ECEC service engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
5. Rethinking behaviour – strengths-based approaches to inclusion
The role of early educators in fostering inclusion
Associate Professor Marianne Fenech, from the Sydney School of Education Social Work, University of Sydney, says families living in poverty need educators to work with them to support inclusion. It is therefore crucial that early educators are attuned to the issues that families face, while providing differentiated support.
“The researchers were all acutely aware that families on low incomes are under-represented in early childhood education services. The Productivity Commission report has just reinforced this,” she says.
“We know that children and families gain the most from quality early childhood education, and yet they're the least likely to access it.
“What the researchers saw, starkly, was that when you're living in poverty, life is very complex and challenging, so things can get in the way of you actually bringing your child to an early childhood service.
“Then at the service level, there are additional barriers. It could be that the service doesn’t seem welcoming. It could be the way staff communicate, or that the service isn't visibly supporting cultural safety for families. It could be that there are overly bureaucratic processes and forms, and families just get overwhelmed.
“What our research set out to do, and what the professional learning courses aim to do, is build practitioners and services’ capacity to make early child services engaging, enticing, and safe for all families.”
The EFEE research team with CELA Professional Learning Coordinator Rachel Ho
Researchers worked with five early education services to learn how ECEC educators can make a difference to children and families in this cohort. This included two family day care services, two pre-schools and one long day care.
Throughout the research, educators told researchers about the great strength and determination of families experiencing poverty and how hard families work to ensure their children benefit from early education.
Many families living in poverty are socially isolated. This can happen because families can’t afford transport, or they live in places with inadequate public transport, which can prove particularly difficult for families trying to access early education. Despite these barriers, researchers reported that families were prepared to walk long distances to take their children to ECEC. This spoke to their resilience and the value they place on education and care for their children.
The importance of equity
Assoc. Prof. Fenech emphasises the importance of equity over equality, arguing that treating everyone the same is unfair. She says some families and children require more support and resources than others and this can be done discreetly.
“Equity is about differentiating resourcing and recognising that some families need more, and that's actually okay and appropriate,” she says.
“Educators will do that sensitively. It's not about telling everyone in the service that someone’s going through a tough time financially. You can do it discretely. And we often found that our service directors were very discrete, whether it be about fee waivers, whether it be about purchasing food for the family, and so on.
“The National Quality Framework talks about equity and inclusion for all families. If we're going to do inclusion well for low-income families, whether they are in ongoing poverty, or whether they've hit financial crisis, it means being attuned to their circumstances and responding to them differently.”
The EYLF also focuses on ‘belonging and inclusion’. The Framework’s principle of diversity, equity, inclusion and high expectations recognises that all children have the right to participate in early childhood settings regardless of their circumstances, strengths, gender, or diverse ways of doing and being.
Image via FutureLearn
Some facts about poverty in Australia
- Poverty is generally defined as not having sufficient income to cover basic material needs.
- People living below the poverty line are regarded as living in poverty and struggle to secure shelter, food, clothing, healthcare and education.
- The Australian Council of Social Security (ACOSS) defines the poverty line as 50% of median income.
- In the most recent data (2019-2020) the poverty line for many families was approximately $1130 per week.
- 72% of people receiving the Parenting Payment live in poverty—our systems of support do not provide enough to keep people out of poverty.
- Children in single-parent families are 3 times more likely to live in poverty than children in two-parent families.
- Australia has the 15th highest poverty rate out of the 34 wealthiest countries in the OECD which is higher than the UK, Germany and New Zealand.
See more Poverty in Australia research (ACOSS & UNSW) here: Poverty – Poverty and Inequality
How can educators support families living in poverty?
Researchers from the EFEE project argue that educators working in high-poverty contexts can best support families when they have an equity focus, are equipped for inclusive practice, actively engage families and enable access for all families.
You can find out more about the research project here: Engaging Families in Early Education research project
New research-informed courses address gaps
CELA’s new self-paced professional learning courses on Engaging Families in Early Education (EFEE) address some of the barriers to inclusion experienced by families living in poverty, and how early educators can support equitable access to early education. The courses show how educators can research poverty in their own area and provide strategies for working with families in high poverty contexts.
CELA’s Professional Learning Coordinator, Rachel Ho, highlights the importance of strong partnerships between educators and families and the need to build trust and respect, recognising families’ unique needs and circumstances.
“We often forget that working in partnership with families is a critical component of the work,” she says. “It’s so important that we reassure and really understand families. Early childhood education spaces are about more than childcare. They are hubs of support.”
Rachel says the EFEE courses boost educators’ capacity to partner with families whose circumstances may be very different to their own. They also foster critical reflection.
“The courses help educators to identify what their biases might be, or to think about the families they work with, alongside their colleagues,” she explains. “They provide a lot of reflection for participants and the purpose of that reflection is to take that thinking back to their team and to share further.
“The way the research has been translated into evidence-based professional learning, using real stories is so powerful. I really think educators are going to find the courses to be quite transformative.”
CELA’s new EFEE professional learning courses will provide participants with:
- Practical tools and strategies
- Examples of real people and real stories
- Strategies to map poverty in their local area
- Guidance on how to address stigma and poverty blindness
- Helpful resources for further exploration
- Opportunities for educators to reflect on their practice and build capacity at both individual and team levels
Register or find out more about the EFEE courses here:
FIND OUT MORE
References
1. Dorsch, P. (2022, October 14). One in eight people in Australia are living in poverty. Australian Council of Social Service.