Exploring NAIDOC 2022

Deborah Hoger > Riley Callie Resources

Every year, it is with eager anticipation that we await the announcement of the NAIDOC Week theme, and each year the theme seems to be so timely, resonating strongly with current issues facing our community.

2022 is no different, and the announcement of “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!” presents educators across the country with a unique opportunity to celebrate within their services the achievements of First Nations Australians; those who have come before us and paved the way, to those change-makers of today who are making a significant difference to fighting for change. When we look at this year’s theme in more detail, we see three overarching focuses, each with their own unique opportunities for embedding into your classroom:

1. Working together to achieve systemic change around the significant issues like environmental and cultural heritage protections, Constitutional change, Treaty, truth-telling and racism.

This focus provides a platform for exploring some of the ‘big issues’ with your little ones. Through age appropriate methods, we can together learn more about the history of Australia from a First Nations perspective. Recently released books like Adam Goodes’ ‘Somebody’s Land’, introduce children to First Nations history and to the term ‘terra nullius’, and are a wonderful platform to invite learning around the position of First Nations people and why today we continue to seek things like Treaty and Constitutional recognition. We can also use this theme as an opportunity to connect locally with our First Nations communities, and to learn more about the issues significant to them and our local areas.

2. Celebrating our leaders and change-makers. This focus encourages us to look at our Ancestors and Elders, from the frontier wars and our earliest resistance fighters, to the notable First Nations individuals today who are driving change in our communities and nationally. In the classroom, it is a great opportunity to introduce young children to First Nations achievements, strength and resilience. We can explore how these achievements are celebrated in our local community. 3. Take action. Be impactful. Move beyond acknowledgment, good intentions, empty words and promises and hollow commitments. This focus asks educators to look internally and ask the question, ‘what can I do?’ As educators of young minds, you have the opportunity to foster in children an understanding of empathy and a desire to ‘do the right thing’. Through participating in local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander events and celebrations regularly throughout the year, you highlight to your children the importance of building relationships with community; the importance of standing up and being a part of the change we want to see in our country. This focus is an invitation for all Australians to consider how they might use their sphere of influence to amplify Indigenous voices and issues. One beautiful example of how you might further learning in this space is to engage in a ‘pen-pal’ type relationship with an Indigenous early learning service or school in remote Australia. Another way might be inviting your local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community to join you in the classroom in collaborative art projects; where you can together share in learning about culture whilst creating a shared artwork which visibly demonstrates your commitment to building relationships and respecting culture.

As the NAIDOC theme highlights, “Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms”. It is a reminder that today is the day to make a difference, and inspires all of us to look at how we can come together in meaningful and positive ways to strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.