Innovative Solutions Support Building Educator Capacity to support Bilingual and Bicultural Inclusion

While developing the Strategic Inclusion Plan (SIP), the educators in the 3-5s care environment at Penshurst Long Day Care identified some barriers they were experiencing while supporting the inclusion of a child and family from a Nepalese background. There are a number of children and families from the same cultural background enrolled in the service, however this family speaks a rare Nepalese dialect. This service’s Inclusion Professional, Kelly Granter, suggested that the service address the barrier by applying for Innovative Solutions Support funding to obtain the expertise of a bilingual consultant who speaks this rare dialect.

The service and the Inclusion Professional met online to create a project proposal that demonstrated the inclusion barriers and outlined how a bilingual consultant would build the capacity of educators to include all Nepalese children and families within the program. A bilingual Nepalese consultant visited the service two days per week for four hours each day over eight weeks.

The educators were supported to build a relationship with the child’s grandparents as the carers who came to the service most regularly. Key caregiving practices were exchanged which alleviated some of the challenges during meal and rest times. The grandparents also seemed more relaxed and soon they were leaving the child at the service for longer hours.

The bilingual consultant was able to communicate with educators about how the child was feeling, such as when he was upset, and she taught them some key words to help overcome some of the communication barriers.

The educators were then able to support the child and build his confidence both to engage in activities and to establish connections with his peers. The bilingual consultant shared activities and resources that reflected Nepalese culture, which the service included in the program enhancing a sense of belonging for all children from a Nepalese background.

Contact your Inclusion Professional to discuss how Innovative Solutions Support can help your service.

The Australian Government funded NSW/ACT Inclusion Agency is managed by KU Children’s Services, in partnership with Include Me and Gowrie NSW.