Early Childhood Education and Care

Running head: Early childhood education and care
Early childhood education
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author note

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE1
The Australian society actually consists many of the other cultures around the world
as there are high number of immigrants in this country. Cultural diversity is important for
building a good society and widely held social norms. It has been assessed that in the early
childhood education there was shift of the child towards an anti-biased type of curriculum. In
the everyday life of children they are frequently exposed to stereotyping dominant discourses
on nationality which is currently reflecting on society and the community on which they live.
There are some rigid ideas are possessed by preschool aged children. The physical, social and
emotional development of the children has direct impact on their overall future development;
hence, understanding the process of child education and care will enhance their future well-
being. Moreover, the process of early childhood education encompasses several activities,
which implies to bring efficient developmental change within the children. Apart from that,
multicultural education or diversity can share goals of social justice and equity among the
children (Guo, 2015). “I am Australian too” is a book written by Mem Fox, which deploys
the stories of some Australians and the place from which their grandparents and parents have
come from. The book effectively identifies the value of one’s origin and deploys the fact that,
regardless of the place from which the Australians and their ancestors belongs to, they are
equally Australian. This report will discuss the process of teaching the children about
diversity and dominant discourse along with the issues, stereotypes and the biased behaviour
associated with it. This essay will be discussing the book “I am Australian too” and provide a
critique on the culture of Australia which is very much diverse in nature.
Mem Fox’s book I am Australian too deploys the tremendous cultural diversity of
Australia, where each single verse describes different families implicating their amazing
ancestral journey and the uniqueness of their family. Apart from that, the vivid illustration of
Ronojosh Ghosh depict each family scenario via capturing eye catching scenes from
Australian landscape. Moreover, there exist a little poignant reference for the children and

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE2
refugees, where one young girl has depicted behind one grey wall, carrying one birdcage in
her hand, letting free one white dove that flies towards the wall of freedom. Furthermore, the
book describes the cultural understanding, love as well as kindness which implies the
testament of vibrant multicultural nation of Australia. In the early stage of the child’s
education, knowledge about the cultural diversity is important as it brings skills and talents
from their home and community. The book provides one vital message for the parents, which
says, children can get better outcome in future when they feel secure, loved and get emotional
support. The book celebrates rich diversity and multiculturalism of the Australian citizens.
This book actually provides the multicultural environment of the Australia and how all the
peoples are happy with this environment. The book can be advantageous in implicating the
multicultural society of Australia to the children by starting an effective conversation with
them regarding the values, tolerance, acceptance as well as the stress that requires to become
an Australian. Apart from implicating the story, the statement “How about you?” at the end
of each story, provides the kids to speak their own story regarding the citizenship of Australia
(Pagano, 2019). Thus this book is actually very much advantageous to demonstrate the
students about the multicultural aspects and the importance of it so that the students become
familiar with it.
Prior to the discussion regarding the process of educating the children, it is necessary
to understand the importance of early childhood education and care. Encountering with the
dominant sociocultural values starts with the process of early childhood education (Follari,
2015). Furthermore, providing early childhood education to the children regarding cultural
diversity can encourage their critical thinking, problem solving activity, communication
skills, social responsibilities and global awareness (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 2013). The
necessity of early childhood care and education can be discussed as follows;