Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work towards cultural competency and to support participation of all children and families in children’s services. This support includes contributing to children’s understanding and acceptance of all cultures.
This unit applies to educators working in a range of education and care services.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA | |
Elements define the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria specify the level of performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. | |
1. Reflect on own cultural identity and biases | 1.1 Identify significant events in own family background or history which may influence current values, beliefs and attitudes 1.2 Define aspects of the environment which influence own cultural identity 1.3 Reflect on potential impact own background may have on interactions and relationships with people from other cultures 1.4 Identify any knowledge, attitudes or skills to be developed to ensure cultural competency | |
2. Identify and develop cultural competency | 2.1 Identify the cultural identities of the children within the service, their families and the local community 2.2 Critically analyse relationships, curriculum and activities 2.3 Identify skills, attributes or knowledge that may need to be developed to ensure cultural competency | |
3. Research Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities | 3.1 Identify any historical issues in relation to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and the land that the service is on, including at regional and state levels 3.2 Reflect on contemporary impacts of historical issues including those relating to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people | |
4. Support individual cultural identities | 4.1 Identify and consult with appropriate persons to obtain knowledge of local cultural groups 4.2 Support activities within the service to encourage and promote participation by all cultural groups 4.3 Process information in a culturally sensitive way including identification of how and with whom information can be shared 4.4 Provide opportunities for all families to share their context and cultural knowledge 4.5 Provide opportunities for children and families to enhance their experience of cultural diversity 4.6 Demonstrate respect for all home languages and expose children to different language and dialects, and encourage appreciation of linguistic diversity | |
5. Create environments to support children’s cross-cultural understanding and relationships | 5.1 Plan and implement experiences that foster positive attitudes to inclusion 5.2 Explore with children the culture, heritage, backgrounds and traditions of each child within the context of their community 5.3 Promote establishment of constructive relationships with all children and families based on trusting relationships, respectful interactions, understandings of alternate world views and celebration of diversity 5.4 Use oral communication skills to role-model open, inclusive, ethical interactions with all children, families and colleagues 5.5 Observe children’s interactions and participation to identify the need for additional cultural support and cross-cultural understanding | |
6. Support the implementation of inclusive learning experiences | 6.1 Implement experiences that build on the diverse backgrounds of children and families within the service, broaden children’s perspectives and encourage appreciation of diversity 6.2 Plan and implement experiences that focus on events, customs and beliefs that are relevant to the service’s children and families | |
7. Support children in developing confidence and strength in personal and cultural identity | 7.1 Support experiences and environments where secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships between children, families and other adults can be established 7.2 Communicate and interact with children to help them work towards a strong sense of identity, wellbeing and of being connected with and contributing to their world 7.3 Implement group activities to allow children to use collaborative processes to solve problems 7.4 Engage with peers, mentors or others to support individual children with specific cultural needs as appropriate 7.5 Follow community protocols when engaging with community members | |
Foundation Skills
The Foundation Skills describe those required skills (language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills) that are essential to performance. |
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency. |