Language Nests in New Zealand. Implications for the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Context

Abstract

In the past ten years there has been an increasing interest in early childhood education in Aboriginal communities, particularly for 4-year-olds and under. The reasons for this are varied. One of the main reasons is the existence of the Community Development Employment Project (CDEP) where Aboriginal people in remote communities receive the equivalent of the unemployment benefit in exchange for work and training, usually four hours per day for five days. Other larger communities, for example Yuendemu or Maningrida in the Northern Territory, have considerable numbers of people studying, often at Batchelor College, and therefore some type of support is needed to take care of their young children. Increasingly Aboriginal people are taking on professional jobs in communities — teachers, health care workers and office administrators. All these factors are leading to a need to re-evaluate traditional forms of child care, which in these changing times is putting an unacceptable burden on older women and the extended family generally. Other pertinent reasons are the need for a more cohesive strategy to pass on cultural knowledge, to support language maintenance and language revival and support very young mothers who need the support of older women with more experience.