Towards quality education: A ‘learning for school’ program developed from the foundation of the family’s culture

Abstract

Across cultures, young children learn primarily within their family, with the family’s culture positioning the values, language and purpose of children’s learning toward the family's goals. Quality education begins within families, and at school entry age, children’s learning within their families is critical to their educational success. However, Western schooling is based on young children’s experiences within the culture of Western families. Therefore, with the spread of Western education across nations, a global problem for families of non-Western cultures has emerged regarding how adult family members can prepare their young children to learn in the Western culture of school while retaining and enhancing their family-centred learning.

 This paper offers original insights from research into a local solution to this global problem – a 'learning for school' program developed from the foundation of the family’s culture. Located in central Australian communities and initiated by Indigenous families, this program strongly emphasises the role of the family. It respects the family's cultural values, which frame young children’s learning of the practices of the school’s culture.

A case study grounded in sociocultural learning theory explored how this program enabled the families to prepare their young children for learning at school over the first 20 years of this bi-cultural program. Within this research, the inductive analysis of program documents, personal journals, and family conversations revealed unique findings regarding the learning content and the families’ cultural ways of learning, findings which were interwoven to shape the program for the families’ purposes.

The findings of this research are particularly relevant to non-Western nations and communities, where family values and culture are at risk of “melting” in the “rush” for education (Tuia, 2020, p.5). This paper offers an evidenced pathway for re-instating young children’s learning for school within the family through the cultural ways of the family as they guide their children’s journey towards quality education.