Critical Essay on Intercultural Understanding 2022

Running head: INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
CRITICAL ESSAY ON INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING1
Introduction
The promotion of intercultural understanding and acceptance of one’s heritage is crucial
in a culturally diverse population like that of Australia. The issues of marginalization,
stereotyping, discrimination against the indigenous communities especially towards children, is
rampant in such societies. Therefore, this essay would attempt at comprehending the deep
connection that the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders share with their land, animals, and
water and how these relations give shape to their unique culture. The vast indigenous culture that
exists in Australia requires further research, amidst the modern urban societies that have pushed
these individuals to the edge. The picture book considered here, ‘Sam’s Bush Journey’ can be
considered an appropriate device in promoting intercultural understanding among children about
the depth and richness of the Aboriginal communities of Australia.
Intercultural understanding
The past centuries have seen an upsurge in advancement of civilizations and with it, large
scale urbanization. As a consequence, lot of the indigenous population of various lands, have
been either converted to an urban lifestyle or pushed to live in designated zones and locations of
their own. With time, their culture and traditions became folk tales for the people.
Understanding the cultural nuances of a particular place holds paramount significance,
not only from a sociological and anthropological viewpoint but also from that of education. As
our society progresses further into modernization, the roots of emergence, that of the indigenous
people, tend to disintegrate slowly. Their preservation is a must and the significance of those
roots are not only identified by the ones closely connected with the indigenous cultures but also
by higher global authorities.

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING2
Australia has a lot of indigenous people belonging to different cultures. Two well
identified ones are the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders (Montagu 2013). While the
aboriginal account for almost 2.4% of total Australian population, the Torres Strait Islanders
account for almost 0.1 % of total Australian population (Castellano 2014). That might not seem
like a large percentage, but if we consider the total population of a country like Australia, that is
a huge number. They also come with cultural, values, virtues and nuances of their own and
preserving them becomes the responsibility of every individual concerned. This is where early
childhood education plays a crucial role.
Educating the children in school about intercultural understanding should be one of the
vital elements of current educational practices given that the level of knowledge about cultural
history is steadily on a decline (Dahlberg et al., 2013). Starting intercultural education in school
curricula concerning students as young as 3-5 year olds has a positive impact not only on the
education system but also on the students as a whole by shaping their cognition regarding the
cultural understanding of their nations and the diversity that exists in the global cultural network.

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING3
Rationale behind selecting the book
Sam’s Bush Journey by Sally Morgan and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
The book Sam’s Bush Journey by Sally Morgan is a picture book designed keeping
children of the aforementioned age group in mind. The book is about a boy named Sam who
lives in the city, loves all modern technological gadgets just like every other urban kid and does
not care about the bushes. However, that opinion of his changes when he takes walks with his
grandmother into the bushes. He is frustrated because of the discomforts that accompany a bush
journey, including scratches and bruises, the lack of a comfortable bed and proper food, rain and
everything that he dislikes about the rural life. Nonetheless, as he travels into the bushes, he
remembers his grandmother’s words about how nature has always been a source of food, water