How do Yolŋu recognise and understand their children's learning? Nhaltjan ŋuli ga Yolŋuy nhäma ga märr-dharaŋan djamarrkuliw marŋgithinyawuy?

Indigenous families have culturally-specific strengths, priorities, and methods for assessing their children's development. Recognition and support of children's and families' strengths are important for identity, health and wellbeing. However, strengths can be missed in assessment processes developed in non-Indigenous contexts. Yolŋu are First Nations Australian peoples from North-East Arnhem Land. This study was conducted to explore Yolŋu early childhood development, assessment and support in response to concerns that Yolŋu strengths and priorities are often not recognised. The cultural and linguistic expertise of Yolŋu researchers was central in this qualitative study. Rich empirical data were collected through a form of video reflexive ethnography with six children and their extended families over seven years and through in-depth interviews with 38 other community members. An iterative process of data collection and analysis engaged Yolŋu families and researchers in a collaborative, culturally responsive research process which drew on constructivist grounded theory methods. Findings illustrate how Yolŋu children are immersed in complex layers of intertwined and continuous testing and teaching processes integrating holistic frameworks of cultural identity and connection, knowledge and practices. Yolŋu families monitor and recognise a child's development through both direct and explicit testing and through observing children closely so that children can be supported to keep learning and growing into their knowledge, strengths and identity. Yolŋu expressed concern that such learning is invisible when the child is viewed through non-Yolŋu lenses and assessed with processes and tools from outside the community. Indigenous peoples have a right to culturally congruent assessment of their children. Those who share the child's culture and language have the expertise to ensure that cultural strengths and priorities are recognised and understood.

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge, and Practices through Two-Way Partnering.

The Sendai Framework of Action 2015-2030 calls for holistic Indigenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) research. Responding to this call, we synergized a holistic philosophical framework (comprising ecological systems theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality) and social constructionist grounded theory and ethnography within a critical Indigenous research paradigm as a methodology for exploring how diverse individual and contextual factors influence DRR in a remote Indigenous community called Galiwinku, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Working together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers collected stories in local languages using conversations and yarning circles with 20 community members, as well as participant observations. The stories were interpreted and analysed using social constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. The findings were dialogued with over 50 community members. The findings deeply resonated with the community members, validating the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings. The grounded theory that emerged identified two themes. First, local Indigenous knowledge and practices strengthen Indigenous people and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards. More specifically, deep reciprocal relationships with country and ecological knowledge, strong kinship relations, Elder's wisdom and authority, women and men sharing power, and faith in a supreme power/God and Indigenous-led community organizations enable DRR. Second, colonizing practices weaken Indigenous people and increase the risks from natural hazards. Therefore, colonization, the imposition of Western culture, the government application of top-down approaches, infiltration in Indigenous governance systems, the use of fly-in/fly-out workers, scarcity of employment, restrictions on technical and higher education opportunities, and overcrowded housing that is culturally and climatically unsuitable undermine the DRR capability. Based on the findings, we propose a Community-Based DRR theory which proposes that facilitating sustainable Indigenous DRR in Australian Indigenous communities requires Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to genuinely work together in two-directional and complementary ways.

Finding a pathway and making it strong: Learning from Yolŋu about meaningful health education in a remote Indigenous Australian context.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Access to meaningful health information is limited in remote regions of Australia where Indigenous languages and culture are strong but the prevalence of chronic conditions is extremely high. This qualitative study aimed to support and understand the evolution of an educational approach to improve communication about chronic conditions for Yolŋu (Aboriginal people of Northeast Arnhem Land). METHODS: Within a culturally responsive research design, data were gathered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with educators and community members. An iterative and continuous process of data collection and inductive analysis, exploring key elements of the process as it evolved, supported the Project Team to modify and refine their approach as the project progressed. RESULTS: A high level of community participation and control was a critical element of the project. Collaboration between Yolŋu educators and community experts, with culturally competent support from others, enabled Yolŋu to share health information in ways that could not be achieved by outsiders. Yolŋu and biomedical knowledges were integrated to build and share meaningful, in-depth (not simplified or directive) oral explanations in local languages using culturally responsive communication processes. The urgent need for ongoing, sufficient and meaningful health education was a consistent and recurring theme in this context where chronic conditions are having a devastating impact. CONCLUSION: Sustained and equitable access to meaningful information, using a culturally responsive approach led by community educators, is crucial to improve health literacy and to enable genuinely informed decisions in prevention and management of chronic conditions. Long-term funding is needed to support ongoing programs. These findings may have relevance for others who do not share the culture and language of the majority population. SO WHAT?: Equity of access to meaningful health information through sustained support for community-led education processes is essential to improve First Nations health outcomes.

The 'invisible homeless' - challenges faced by families bringing up their children in a remote Australian Aboriginal community.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient and inadequate housing remain serious and enduring problems in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Housing is recognised as a key determinant of persisting inequities between Aboriginal and other Australians in health, as well as education and employment outcomes which in turn impact on health. In our qualitative study exploring strengths and challenges related to early childhood in a remote NT community, insufficient housing emerged as the greatest challenge families experience in 'growing up' their children. METHODS: The "Growing up children in two worlds" study engaged Yolŋu (Aboriginal) and other researchers in a culturally responsive qualitative research process. Methods included video ethnography and in-depth interviews with six case study families as well as participant observation and interviews with a wide range of other community members. Data collection and analysis occurred through an iterative and collaborative process and the findings related to housing are the focus of this article. RESULTS: Concerns about crowded and insecure housing were pervasive in the study community where many families are, in effect, homeless. Most rely on extended family to provide accommodation and some never find a secure and stable space in which to bring up their children. Absence of control over their living conditions is a key element underlying many of the sources of distress associated with crowded housing. The lack of food security, sharing sickness and disturbances in the night affecting sleep are just some of the challenges that generate conflict between family members and impact on health, wellbeing, work and school attendance. Although interaction with other family members is highly valued, the ambition of most participants is for independent and secure accommodation in which they can safely 'grow up' their children. CONCLUSIONS: Yolŋu who live with the consequences of crowded and insecure housing want their voices to be heard. They best understand the challenges they face and their perspectives must inform the solutions. Equitable access to housing through sufficient and sustained investment in an integrated approach, engaging all stakeholders, is needed. This is essential to address persisting inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians in health and other outcomes.

Building Yolŋu Skills, Knowledge, and Priorities into Early Childhood Assessment and Support: Protocol for a Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Yolngu or Yolŋu are a group of indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Recent government policy addressing disparities in outcomes between Indigenous and other children in Australia has resulted in the rapid introduction of early childhood interventions in remote Aboriginal communities. This is despite minimal research into their appropriateness or effectiveness for these contexts. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to privilege Aboriginal early childhood knowledge, priorities and practices and to strengthen the evidence base for culturally responsive and relevant assessment processes and support that distinguishes "difference" from "deficit" to facilitate optimal child development. METHODS: This collaborative qualitative research employs video ethnography, participant observation and in-depth interviews, involving Aboriginal families and researchers in design, implementation, interpretation and dissemination using a locally developed, culturally responsive research approach. Longitudinal case studies are being conducted with 6 families over 5 years and emerging findings are being explored with a further 50 families and key community informants. Data from all sources are analyzed inductively using a collaborative and iterative process. The study findings, grounded in an in-depth understanding of the cultural context of the study but with relevance to policy and practice more widely, are informing the development of a Web-based educational resource and targeted knowledge exchange activities. RESULTS: This paper focuses only on the research approach used in this project. The findings will be reported in detail in future publications. In response to community concerns about lack of recognition of Aboriginal early childhood strengths, priorities and knowledge, this collaborative community-driven project strengthens the evidence base for developing culturally responsive and relevant early childhood services and assessment processes to support optimal child development. The study findings are guiding the development of a Web-based educational resource for staff working with Aboriginal communities and families in the field of early child development. This website will also function as a community-developed tool for strengthening and maintaining Aboriginal knowledge and practice related to child development and child rearing. It will be widely accessible to community members through a range of platforms (eg, mobile phones and tablets) and will provide a model for other cultural contexts. CONCLUSIONS: This project will facilitate wider recognition and reflection of cultural knowledge and practice in early childhood programs and policies and will support strengthening and maintenance of cultural knowledge. The culturally responsive and highly collaborative approach to community-based research on which this project is based will also inform future research through sharing knowledge about the research process as well as research findings.