Weaving Country into Curriculum

In this very special live episode of Learn Play Thrive, host Simone Brand sits down with Aunty Tracey Linn Bostock—a Bundjalung Mulungjali Woman, artist, author and early childhood educator with over 30 years of experience in the sector.

If you have ever used the beautiful Acknowledgement of Country featured on ABC's Play School, you are already familiar with Aunty Tracey's incredible work. In this episode, she shares the deep meaning behind those words, her visionary ideas for the sector and practical wisdom for educational leaders striving to be genuinely culturally responsive.

Key discussion points:
- Aunty Tracey breaks down the specific words and intentional actions she created for Play School's Acknowledgement of Country used by educators and children all across Australia.
-Hear Aunty Tracey’s inspiring vision for a reciprocal exchange program operating between urban early childhood services and country-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services.
- Practical, grounded advice for educators on how to move past tokenistic practices and empower their teams to embed First Nations perspectives deeply across all areas of the curriculum.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Learn Play and Thrive Podcast, the ultimate early learning podcast for educators and leaders in the sector. Let's learn, play, and thrive together.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

The Learn Play and Thrive podcast was recorded on the land of the job control table. We played the traditional custodian policy present and emerging.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Hello, and welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast, where we dive deep into the heart of early childhood education and care and the inspirational educators, researchers, and sector leaders who can make it happen. I'm your host, Lembra. We are coming to you today with a very special episode recording live from the ECA, the regional, rural, and remote forum in beautiful Cross Harbor. Today we're chatting with Auntie Tracy Lynn Vestock, a Bunjarin Balloon Gully woman, an early childhood educator and an artist. Auntie Tracy has worked in early childhood for over 30 years as an educator, co-researcher, a cultural pedagogical advisor, and an artist. She has published her teaching research, stories, and poetry in early childhood professional literature. Auntie Tracy is the creator of the Acknowledgement of Country that appears on Play School and in the song Hand in Hand. Her acknowledgement of country also features in the anti-bias approach in early childhood third and fourth editions. Welcome to Learn Playthrive the podcast, Auntie Tracy. Auntie Tracy, in many ECEC services across the sector, the daily inclusion of an acknowledgement of country with young children is an important way to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum. Can you tell us about the words and actions you created for the play school acknowledgement of country that is used in many services across Australia?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Hi Ken, hi Sterling. I've been in the early learning service for inner West Council now for 23 years, over 23 years. I started when I was 19 down at the block at um in Redfern, a place called Mawena Preschool. Now when I first started the acknowledgement, it was just sitting around, having a yarn with children under a tree, and we were doing some work, and then and I think that's the thing is just talking with children and just yarning with them. And then we go like, you know, and then we'd lie down and look up at the sky and then just listen to the wind, and listen to and watch, you know, the trees and and then conversations from that, and then we sat up and we said, like, how about if we touch the ground and what ground are we on? And oh Gadigaland, you know. And they're like, Well, so if we reach for the sky, what does it cover? It covers the Gadigaland. And then most importantly, is we touch our hearts. What happens then? Do we take care of it? And they said yes, and they said, Well, how do we do that? We don't put any rubbish on the ground, we don't pick up the flowers, we only use what's on the ground. And then that started the conversations, and then from there we did the um we'd like to acknowledge the the elders, we'd like to acknowledge um past, present, and future, we'd like to acknowledge, and I always say the children of the land. Um, and that's also being respectful to community and community, you know, and just being respectful in that way. So from there I went on, was invited by um Dr. Red Ruby Scarlet to do my acknowledgement with and along with um Jessica Saints also that was involved with that, but my words and actions is just um it was on an episode of Play School that was before um NADOC week and it was doing acknowledgement to land. So from there I shared it, you know, and I just wanted it to be educational so it it it comes as a better understanding for children, you know, even like the little jargons, they'll do it, they'll just follow the older children by touching the ground, reaching for the sky and touching the hearts. So um it was just being culturally aware of where they belong, where they live, where they play, um, and it's just like wonderful that it has gone out. So people that are involved around the rivers, um salt water, mountains, uh, desert area. It has gone and it has spread contextualized to each environment. My one thing that I have said in the past is knowing about the history of where it came from, and to acknowledge that it did come from me who created the word and the action. And um because sometimes you know it it does get lost, and that's where black history has gone, and it's it's it's misplaced. And um so there's a in here, for example, there's a presentation, and I let them know about it, and that so they're gonna rectify it on their I mean the video that they did last year. So it's just those little things, and um you know it's just it's just gone national, and other people do use it for like their own country of where they come from.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Ani Tracy, can you share your vision for a cultural pedagogy educator exchange program operating between urban services and country-based Aboriginal and tourist straight islander early childhood education and care services?

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Before I came up to um, I had this vision about a month ago. Um, and it was talking with um an early learning centre that's based in a West Council and um they were trying to reach out to other Aboriginal communities, and I was saying, um, well I realise those communities can be very committed to what they're doing, and it can be very hard for you know connections. And I said, Why do we have this beast based in Sydney? Why can't we reach out and do remote regional areas? And I saw this forum and really wanted to come to it because of the project that I've called um Gui Yaranda, meaning the light of the moon, which will then connect our city services, children and family services, to connect with the three hours, the regional, rural and remote services, if that's possible. Like I think it'd be a great project so then um directors can support one another, they can share information, um, teachers can, you know, so what programs that they join and how they're what they're doing in the room, um what interests, you know, and then all comes down to like um planning, making sure that everyone like coming back to the coming back to the policy and having some muscle something or something or um city to remote, and that's what I've been hearing a lot about being connected um with a lot of the speakers and then just general the public here that educators.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

I love the story behind the name, the light of the moon, and the analogy that you gave me yesterday when we were talking about um this project. I was fortunate enough to receive one of your letters, which we'll get to in a moment. Um you you mentioned that looking up at the stars at night and the moon.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yeah, um but it's like you know, we're we all have that one moon and um we can cast shadows with it. It's also involved with our culture, like with the times. Everything that fellas have educated and and our knowledge is also shared by that moon. And then having that connection, I think um that would be great. And then by sending out the the letter, I I did write right that there is a piece where I've just told them our Sydney language word for it, but also if we do um have a sister connection, that whatever country it comes from, they can share their word for the light or for the moon, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

So then we're just sharing language again. So you mentioned looking up at the stars and the moon looks vastly different from the city. From the city. So what does it look like in your landscape as versus what does it look like uh where we currently live? Exactly. Yes. Uh so the letters, you you said going back to basics, you've come to the quorum and you've handed out, I think you said 75 letters that you had. Yeah. So the the post um is is very uh central and getting back to that aspect. But in your letter, you're inviting services to connect and work together.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

So this um this connection and building relationships with people, you've uh introduced yourself and the children in your community and your intentions surrounding the program and the way that it's going to be hopefully engaged and in and developed. And what are some things that you hope to see the children engage with? What are some parcels that you envision being shared?

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Like, yeah, the parcels, that's what it's all about, is like going back old school and receiving something in the mail. Like, as I said, like I get excited about getting a parcel myself. So um can you imagine the delight of the children getting something and they go like, oh, this is from you know the centre in Sydney, and you know, and then what they like, it could be seasonal changes, it could be um, you know, this is our drawing of the landscape where we're from, and the landscape from Sydney could be like you know, buildings and planes, drawings of planes going over and trains and and then the connection of like you know, desert area or bush or mountains, big rivers and or dry rivers, you know, that's the thing too uh environmentally, but um I think the whole aspect of just having that connection just really warms my heart.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

I mentioned to you that during my experience as an educator, we worked with children to do a post system for a remote service, and one of the posts was that sharing of physical identities. So the children there alongside the educators were weaving, and we received um an art piece of their weaving, and in return, the children in our service, because we want from the beaches, had painted shelves and shared the back. So it was like an exchange of what we have and what we work with in country on the land, and it I guess inspired a lot of conversations with the children of what what do you think that you know what do you think these children have been working on or what do you think they play with um out in their playground in their service? And what do we have in ours? And what is similar and what are different?

SPEAKER_02 12:37

Yeah, because like and the thing is like how did this m parcel get here? We know that our poster is arrived, but how like how far the travel went? Did it go on the train? Like the mail train, did it did they have to bring it over over in the plane or something like that? Or a button. So all that transport and travelling and then um you know just just all the many wonders that children like, you know, they go, oh I wonder where this is from and things like that. But they have that connection. And I mean I'm hoping they'll have that connection with that centre um for a long time, you know, so then it just keeps on going and giving them a later. And they get more excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Yeah, and you call it a sister sister centre.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Sister connection. Sister connection. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

As educators strive to implement the EWLF practice, being culturally responsive by including a genuine commitment to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in all aspects of the curriculum. What advice do you have for educational leaders? How can they empower their teams to lead with intentionality, ensuring that First Nations perspectives are woven across the curriculum?

SPEAKER_02 13:55

I think that learning well, I believe, learning more about Aboriginal history. Aboriginal history has about the truth telling. Because until the referendum in 1967, then that was why I was classed as a citizen or arbitrary just had the right to vote. My uncles went to war, they fought for their country. Um, but I think it's more about truth telling, not uh also about um listening to and if they can listen like with the connection of other Aboriginal people. And sometimes it can't, like, because you know, having those connections within the in the city, um, I guess I know what it is, but like um I think also researching, having yarns, you know, um sending out like you know, emailing me or our um other cultural advisor to say uh I'm not quite sure about this, how do I go about it? And you know, um and that's the thing about talking about it and and then not jumping as I was saying before, don't jump in the deep end because if you think that you can like do leaps and bounds, it's just not gonna work, like start off slowly. So you get you get a good rhythm within yourself and you're going to be embedding it because you're gonna know the knowledge and uh then you can be a mentor who that like uh an educator for children to share that and you've and you're getting it right. And sometimes you know, I I don't have all the answers, and that's when having a yarn community can you know what you do it's not a you know better then and then you can have a yarn and talk more about it. I think having um when there's story time at centers and they're using an Aboriginal storybook, make sure that you know that kind of who the author is, um, who the illustrators, where they come from. Put it on the wall so then parents will know this is what both their children have been reading. Music always acknowledge the performer where they're from. So it's just having more information that's there is embedded with children and with families. I think that knowledge is uh becomes more stronger.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Absolutely. Uh today at the forum you uh were within a session watching other people present their work from Aboriginal culture, and you expressed how proud you were to see younger generation come up and share their truth and share their perspectives. Yep, these are the young girls from Snake.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Um and I did mention and I thought like young women, you know, makes me so proud, you know, to see well they are a future, and but they're they're embedding their knowledge and they're sharing their knowledge, and this is what can be done if we work together. You know, if you don't know about this place, here's the information. And I think that's um as an Aboriginal woman and I've seen what my past generations have fought for and um have struggled with to have um you know young young women, young, beautiful black women talking up and sharing what they know and and what is so passionate about it that makes it. In front of a large audience. And I get all suddhila about it does, it just like just makes my heart so proud how far we've come. Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And they've still got the fight, they've still got the fight to do, yeah. But um it just it's just there, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Would you like to share the introduction of your letter? Because I am really excited about it uh for our listeners.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Okay, um I'll just go down to yeah, I'll read it. Okay. So jingabala everyone. My name is Tracy Lynn Bostock, I am a proud Bunjalung woman, my grandmother's country, as well as Mull and Jali, which is my grandfather's plan within the same nation. I reside on Gabiga Land in Tissippy with family, my daughter, my grandson, and in Bradkett. So I've got like he's the man child, um, my big sister, and we've got two dogs, Billy and Thorpe. Um I first started working with children at Nile Wena Preschool, Dennett Bloch, in Evelyn Street, Redfern, when I was 19 in the late 70s. I've been working with Inniverse Council's children's services for over 23 years and still am. I'm writing to seek your support and participation in what I believe is an exciting incentive to our initiative to connect our Inner West Council education and care services with regional, rural and remote childcare and family centres across New South Wales. This project proposes the introduction and development of a sister center connection program fostering meaningful relationships between children, educators and communities in metropolitan and rural, regional and remote settings. Through the exchange of drawings, photos of environments, letters, and shared learning stories, children will explore and celebrate both the similarities and differences in their daily experiences.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

I think that's that's only part of it. And then it goes on to continue the conversation as to the development and how uh practically it will be implemented. And I think if if anyone is hearing this, the listeners out here, I encourage you to jump on board and be able to make those connections. Because as you mentioned to me, if you do have too many people that do want to jump on, how amazing is that? That's more connections, that's more services, that's more people working together.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

That's right, that's right. And then, like if there's people that are coming out, like you know, being in with in community is share that. So we've got like, you know, there's ushers out there, like with the public schools, like we've only got two uh with uh innerwest council, but then we get it's it's about sharing the project because it's gonna involve community, especially children, especially like the educators that need this the support. Um you know, we all need support, but that's sharing. I think that's the the commitment.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

And the potential uh evolution of the program looks at uh exchanging educators. So two educators potentially that's for the future. We might be stepping steps.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Um but that's like that's in the big picture, that would be fantastic to see uh uh cultural exchange, you know. Maybe you know, educators can do like a blot. Like this is only just my vision, you know, and then having um you know, maybe young trainees if they they come down to Sydney and stuff, but always feed together. It's case to go in um early running centres and stuff like that. Always be together, Bob. That is it. Um two at a time, two at a time, yes. Uh I think I believe that's you know cultural safe way, um, and so they can feed off each other and they can have a love and it's not so serious, but like enjoy themselves as they live.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Beautiful. Well, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. Thank you. Really appreciate you coming on in your time and also sharing your program and initiative and giving some insights into your acknowledgement and how it was created as well. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Annie. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to fuel your journey in early childhood education. Remember the key to fostering learning, promoting play, and empowering young minds lies with your dedication and creativity. Stay connected between episodes by following us on Instagram at learnplaythrive underscore and join the conversation on Facebook at LearnPlaythrive Australia. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, rate or review our podcast on your favourite platform. Your feedback helps us to continue to deliver content that resonates with you. And don't forget to visit us at our website at learnplaythrive.com.au for additional resources, blog posts, and professional development opportunities. Until next time, keep learning, keep playing, and keep thriving. We'll see you in the next episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast.