Educator Yarns is a curated collection of conversations for early childhood educators wanting to build their cultural capacity and confidence.

Director of the Koori Curriculum Jessica Staines yarns with guests from around Australia seeking out multiple voices and perspectives on reconciliation, anti-bias and embedding culture in early childhood curriculum.

Join Jessica Staines as she dives into critically reflecting on what the 26th of January means and how your team can respond.

Jessica shares reflections and provocations to help aid pedagogical debate and discussion with your colleagues and ignite change for January 26th.

Are you wanting advice on how you can connect and work respectfully with your local Aboriginal community?

If this sounds like you then listen in to our mini episode with Jess Staines as she shares advice and strategies on how you can work in respectful partnerships with Aboriginal families and communities.

In this episode of Educator Yarns, Jessica Staines is joined by Rhi Sugars to discuss embedding Aboriginal perspectives with infants.

Rhi Sugars is a passionate disability advocate and someone who identifies as having a disability.

She has been an early childhood educator for fifteen years, spending much of that time working with children with disabilities and those who have experienced childhood trauma.

Since the birth of her son, a proud Wiradjuri young person with multiple disabilities, Rhi has focused her advocacy work on promoting the importance of cultural identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with disabilities and the benefits of including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in inclusive learning curricula and physical environments.

At Koori Curriculum we are often asked what the best books to share with 0-1 year-olds that can assist in embedding an Aboriginal perspective.

In this mini episode join Jessica Staines as she highlights her top reads for infants. 

Check out our blog for more deadly ideas for embedding an Aboriginal perspective with infants: Resources for 0-2 Year Old's

In this episode of Educator Yarns, Jess chats with Angie Camilleri about how she has embedded an Aboriginal perspective into the Explore and Develop Penrith South curriculum. Angie shares with Jess how they built their cultural capabilities, their journey, how they relearnt history and how their curriculum choices have bought them to where they are today.

At the Koori Curriculum, we encourage the embedding of Aboriginal perspectives using children’s interests as a way of contextualising culture instead of teaching about Aboriginal culture as if it is a topic, theme or interest.

In this mini episode of Educator Yarns shares how you can scaffold children's interests around Dinosaurs including an Aboriginal perspective.

In episode 7 of Educator Yarns, Jessica speaks with Marnie Omeragic, Director on Wangal Land in Sydney’s Concord West.

Over the past several years Marnie and her team have worked towards embedding Aboriginal perspectives and creating a greater connection to Country. Marnie has seen their efforts transform their service from a place wanting to acknowledge and respect local Aboriginal culture to becoming a place of cultural safety for local Aboriginal families and community.

In this interview Marnie talks about slowing her practice down, cultivating lasting and meaningful relationships amongst the community and what it means to her and her team to work in partnership. A partnership with not only her, the families and her community, but a partnership with the land on which they stand.

Getting momentum with Aboriginal programs can be easier said than done.

However, being intentional with your program, planning and practice does help in getting traction.

In this mini-episode, Jessica Staines shares some suggestions to help you get started and overcome some common obstacles.

Are you looking to get your entire team on the same page, with a shared understanding, for the year ahead?

Our Programming & Planning seminar has been designed to be budget friendly professional development for early years educators.

In this episode of Educator Yarns, Jess is joined by Shelby from Homegrown Learning Studio. Shelby shares some ideas about embedding First Nations perspectives into early learning, some of the struggles of embedding First Nations perspectives within the family daycare environment and the historical failure of education services in recognising First Nations culture and cultural history and the impacts that can have.

In this mini episode of Educator Yarns Jess shares her top tips for Family Day Care services on how to embed Aboriginal perspectives in their curriculum.

Jess provides clear and easily actionable tips to start on your journey from finding your 'why' to confronting your own fears and hesitations and the best way to just start.

Access the Aboriginal resource audit here: https://buff.ly/3Ulz3qB

In this episode of Educator Yarns Jess chats with Brodie Vallence, co-owner of West Coast Family Day Care Service.

Jess and Brodie discuss how Educators use cultural items and practices that are appropriate for only boys or girls within their practice, the role of educators and parents in developing a RAP, how Educators can avoid being tokenistic and how you can approach and build relationships with community and Elders in a respectful and appropriate way that respects their time and knowledge, yet works within a small budget.

In this mini episode of Educator Yarns Jess reflects on inauthentic Aboriginal art.

It's important for us as educators to review our procurement processes to ensure that we are being ethical by showing reciprocity and remunerating artists for their work.There are many inexpensive and ethical ways that educators can procure art such as purchasing Aboriginal art calendars, poster prints and post cards.

In this episode of Educator Yarns Jess chats with Sandra Dos Reis & Kathryn Albany from Deborah Little Early Learning Centre.

Sandra and Kathryn share with Jess their journey in moving from 'we don't know how' towards confidence, the power of mentoring, how they built connections with community, the way they work with children on Country and how their embedding perspectives and approaches are not a tokenistic pedagogy.

In this mini episode of Educator Yarns Jess shares the many ways that educators can get support from Koori Curriculum. 

No matter your budget Koori Curriculum has resources and support that can help you on your journey to embed an Aboriginal perspective in your centre.

In this episode of Educator Yarns, Jess speaks with Micelle King, a proud descendant of the Worimi Nation and early childhood educator. Michelle shares reflections on her family's past and the generational trauma that is a direct result of Australia's White Australia Policy which prevented her Grandmother from attending her local school - the one in which Michelle later attended as well as her own children and grandchildren. 

In this episode of Educator Yarns Jess shares her tips for setting and achieving goals.

Jess always maintained a consistent view since starting the Koori Curriculum, which is that most educators want to include an Aboriginal perspective in their program and develop culturally safe environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities but don’t know what to do and how to do it.

They are fearful of doing the wrong thing, offending someone or being stereotypical and tokenistic.

Jess outlines a common sense approach to these issues to help get Educators out of their analysis paralysis and into action.

In this episode of Educator Yarns, Jess talks with Victoria Edmond from Rainbow Bridge FDC and Big Hearted Education. 

Jess and Victoria yarn about some of the barriers that FDC face with embedding Aboriginal perspectives in Family Day Care services in an authentic way. They discuss where educators can find resources that are budget friendly and how they can make connections in Community. Victoria also shares her journey in her own service and why she believes it is important to share with children.

In this episode of Educator yarns, Jess shares the plans for what's coming in 2023 for Koori Curriculum.

Jess advises that Yarning Circles are back for 2023 in a new virtual format, that will be available for out-of-school care and early learning. Koori Curriculum will also be continuing our Programming & Planning Seminars into 2023.