(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
A small-scale but ground breaking program on South Australia's APY Lands is producing stunning results in early childhood education, in a region with amongst the poorest educational outcomes in the nation.
Instead of waiting until pre-school to begin lessons, Aboriginal children are getting learning from birth - and by the time they reach school age they're surpassing children years ahead of them.
However, as Karen Ashford reports, those involved in the project have been told no further funding's available to keep it going.
It sounds like hi-jinx, but this roomful of two-year-olds at the Ernabella Family Wellbeing Centre are actually building vital life skills.
It's the initiative of retired teacher Jude Crabtree - who at 70 years old is irrepressibly energetic about the potential for special learning programs for babies.
Some 50 years in the classroom taught her that the western approach to education was too formal and started too late for Anangu children.
"It's very much play based and based on the visual arts, because we know that the strengths of the Aboriginal painters is coming through so strongly in their children. So I think it's because I'm making such a connection between the cultural side of what's going on in Aboriginal education - a thing that worries me is perhaps we haven't been looking at the children's strengths at the, the community strengths - we 've been far to perhaps focused on literacy and numeracy without thinking of using the arts as a conduit. So my belief is that we are maybe missing out on some very, very important learning activities and some structures that could change the way the education is rolled out to children, particularly in I think in remote communities."
Three years ago she determined to harness the renowned artistic skills of families as a catalyst for learning.
The result is the "Anangu families as first teachers program", developed in consultation with parents who are being encouraged to be their children's earliest educators.
Anangu have given the program their own name "iti ninti tjuta" which means "all the clever little children".
Nami Kulyuru is a grandmother who thinks the program is transforming lives.
"When I'm coming in this building I see lots of kids, babies, doing painting with their mother and that way they learning from looking at people doing painting."
Mums, dads and grandmas spend weeks creating brightly-coloured books featuring photographs of the children amidst hand drawn art and their young life story.
(Starts in Pitjantjartjara,) "would you like me to print that off? And maybe we can do her own page? Wouldn't that be good? Isn't that beautiful."
Some 140 of them have been made - crafted by parents then sent south to the Adelaide Hills, where they're printed on tough laminated paper, capable of withstanding the rigours of the bush.
Mothers like Rachelle Nelson says her daughter Mekisha wants to read because the story is all about her.
She's shyly proud of the two-and-a-half year old's development.
"She's quick, very quick, she loves doing things. Loves singing, yeah she loves art as well, she like drawing, making things."
Crucially, the books are written in English and read back to children in both English and Pitjatjantjara, their first tongue.
"Jude at one years old... (then speaks in Pitjantjatjara).
Sue Record is the Principal of the Ernabella School, and as it happens, has a master's degree in neuroscience and cognitive psychology.
"One of the things we know is that when kids are learning a new language it's easier to learn from a young age, right from birth if they're learning two languages it's really easy. So for me this is kind of like that's great because it's getting the kids exposed, and they're reading in English, they've got motivation to read because it's about them, so I see that as a real benefit as well."
But it's not just the language.
Sue Record says even coming to grips with books - something rarely kept in Anangu homes - is a valuable learning process.
"What's the front cover? Where do we begin reading? Which way do we go? Where do we go next? Which way do we hold the book? I've seen a little boy who got the book this way, and I was thinking it really highlighted for me that child didn't have a lot of understanding around just a simple thing like holding a book and where to start, that we take for granted. And I think this will embed those learnings that we do take for granted in kids from an early age and that's just going to set them up - it's a great start because it's not some book doesn't mean anything to them, it's actually a book about me, and this book is amazing and my mum made it and I'm really proud of it and the message is books are great!"
Iti Ninti Tjuta is having a dual impact.
Parents are re-engaging in English skills that may have become rusty since they left school, as well as setting a learning foundation for their children.
Early signs of writing are emerging in two and three-year-olds, who are developing the fine motor skills needed to hold pens.
"(child sounds) how exciting - she's done so many "W" she's worked it out hasn't she - ninti girl! she's clever."
The Principal of the Pipalytjatjara school Ngaire Benfell says some three-year-olds about to enter pre-school have capacities in advance of school children twice their age.
"Well I'll give you an example of a child who has been consistently with the program with her mum and she is transitioning now into preschool and what we have observed is just outstanding. Her readiness for a learning situation and her articulation, her English language is just really outstanding. Her confidence and her ability to engage in a more formal setting is outstripping those who have not been part of the program - so we are really starting to see the follow on and what is going to be hopefully be the domino effect of this program that will carry on right through the years of schooling. "
The program's architect Jude Crabtree says the results have exceeded even her expectations.
She believes that instilling an early love of learning could be a key to reducing truancy and encouraging children to stay at school right through to year 12.
The early signs are promising.
"A reception teacher was saying when the little ones came up from preschools, because don't forget we started this three years ago and some of those children are now going into reception - that she felt some of those reception children were even more advanced than her year twos. So we can see if we can keep this program going and keep the momentum up we know that when the children do go into the school system that we will start to see an improvement in the literacy and numeracy levels.
Sue Record says the initiative has the potential to transform an entire generation's approach to knowledge.
"Because having control of language is power, and that's what indigenous people need. So it's great thing to start here, I can't imagine how amazing it's going to be for these kids when they get to year ten and they've had this amazing start around language and literacy."
Sue Jenkins, an internationally-respected paediatrician who's consulted in developing nations around the globe, has independently assessed the pilot program's performance at regular intervals since 2010.
"They're learning about colour, they're learning about texture, they're developing pre-literacy skills because they're hearing English language spoken and the books are mostly written in English. So when the parents read to them they're learning some English and by the time they get into school it won't be an unfamiliar language to them. There are pre-numeracy skills there, they're learning about sorting and matching and shapes and all those mathematical concepts. There's a lot goes on that the average observer might just see as play but actually there's a heap of stuff going on."
She thinks Jude Crabtree has succeeded because she spent several years teaching in the region and has built a rapport with communities.
This bond of trust enabled the development of the program to be driven by Anangu, and as a result it's been accepted and owned by communities with an enthusiasm Dr Jenkins says would be the envy of many other programs.
"You've got to make sure it's culturally appropriate, you got to make sure there's community ownership, ideally these programs are built from the bottom up, if you don't have community ownership you know the people don't come. Government is very good at coming in and putting - well meaning people design programs, come and put them into places where the community says actually that's not what we want, we 've got other pressing priorities. So I think you've got to be careful about transposing a model which works wonderfully in one setting into something which is completely different. You've got to do the consultation and needs assessment."
The benefits aren't confined to the classroom.
Other agencies on the lands like health and social workers are seeing a ripple effect as children learn basics like washing their hands and brushing their teeth, grasp the importance of routines, and learn social skills.
Meredith Clark was the coordinator of the Ernabella Family Wellbeing Centre, where she helped Jude Crabtree deliver the Iti Ninti Tjuta program.
"I'd love it to continue. In a remote area we don't get a lot of opportunity for programs. It's expensive for organisation to run a program out here but this is one that's tailored for Anangu families. It takes on board the strengths of Anangu in terms of their design and creative skills and allows them to use that in terms of working on their literacy."
But it's a dream that appears to be dashed, despite its extraordinary impact on children's learning, its widespread support by child professionals across the APY Lands, and most importantly, its proven engagement with Anangu.
The federal government had provided 700-thousand dollars over three years for the "Anangu families as first teachers program".
Communities were recently told the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations' budget line for such projects has expired.
This was just before the federal government's Audit Commission acknowledged that "remote Australia's very high disadvantaged Indigenous population, cultural complexity and dispersed settlement pattern requires a dedicated policy and service delivery response".
The Commission further stated that "issues such as retaining the right staff, coordinating services, and working with particular cultural norms in more remote areas should be addressed".
Contracts for Jude Crabtree and Meredith Clark were not renewed, both instead taking other positions on the Lands.
Meredith Clark says it's a squandered opportunity that could have been a conduit for even bigger things.
"It's something that does engage the kids here and, you know, why not take advantage of some of those things that do really get them switched on, and whether it be the kids or the mums, and use that as the means to get some of the outcomes that we're looking for."
Supporters of the project see a faint glimmer of hope from the South Australian government.
Education and Child Development Minister Jennifer Rankine says she's interested in assessing the "Anangu as first teachers" initiative to see whether it might complement the state's existing early learning programs.
Much will still depend on the federal budget.
Minister Rankine says even if the state adopts the project, it would still require some indirect federal funding through pre-school and Indigenous early childhood programs - and these may be at risk.
And to add to the disappointment for Anangu mothers, the Ernabella family centre now has no one to run it, so it, and its sister centres at Amata and Fregon lay virtually idle.
Purpose-built facilities worth millions, doing little for the families who desperately need them.
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