Childhood , Play and School : A Literature Review in Australia

Around age three, First Nations children in remote communities in Australia undertake a major transition from the home to formal schooling. This very important period of child development is typically monitored by non-First Nations educators. Yet these educators typically know little about First Nations child development of children aged birth to seven. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the importance of describing the process of acquiring social and cultural practices that enable a child to become a dynamic, knowledgeable participant in a First Nations context from a strengths perspective.


Introduction
The child is universal and childhood is experienced by all human beings however, geographically, the study of childhood and child development has principally been concerned with Western countries which the populations "comprises of ten percent of all children in the world" (LeVine & New, 2008). Most of the children in the world are from non-Western countries however, the foundation of education and more specifically, early childhood policy and practice across the globe stems from Western fields.
Furthermore, policies derive from Western theoretical frameworks, epistemologically, ontologically and axiologically (Martin, 2008;Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003;Nakata, Nakata, Keech & Bolt, 2012). Childhood field studies by anthropologists began in the early-1920s and the accounts presented evidence that children all over the world were being raised with differing cultural practices and cultural variations (Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003).
To date, majority of human development research has been carried out in "middle-class communities in Europe and North America" (Rogoff, 2003, p. 4) and from this research generalisations have been broadened to universal terms. However, the early cultural research from Malinowski (1927) and Piaget & Cook (1952) in which both researchers assisted in the foundation for all human beings to not be placed as 'the same' however, on the contrary. Cultural research in human developments seeks to "move beyond overgeneralisations that assume that human development everywhere functions in the same ways as in researchers' own communities, and to be able to account for both similarities and differences across communities" (Rogoff, 2003, p. 7).
Through the zone of proximal development, Vygotsky (1967) argued that it is through the child's skills and tools that they learn in their culture, that he or she can participate effectively in activities and learning and many scholars have supported these claims (Heath, 1983(Heath, , 1989Miller, 1982;Ochs, 1988;Rogoff & Chavajay, 1995;Rogoff, Mistry, Göncü & Mosier, 1993). These cultural tools and skills are transgenerational and change over time through adaptation. However, Rogoff argues further that human development is the combination of individual participation and sociocultural change from others (1990,1998). As children participate in cultural activities with others, they develop their tools and skills. From a theoretical perspective, recent works have explored the universal roots of childhood through ethnography and human development. This is due to participants being key components of cultural transmission within a community (Rogoff, 2003).

Aims
The aim of this literature review has been to present an analysis of information and evidence from literature and resources associated with childhood, play and schooling in remote contexts across Australia in the early years (birth to seven). There were three central intentions to the review process: • Evidence and literature relating to childhood • Evidence and literature relating to play • Evidence and literature relating to schooling These three central intentions form the basis of the main sections of the review. Where necessary, there has been an indication that there has been literature absent and further research could be carried out.

Evidence and Literature Relating to Childhood
During the late ninetieth and early twentieth century, the most common topic in childhood literature in First Nations contexts in Australia surrounded boys' initiation however, conception, totemism, the family and life cycle were briefly discussed. However, these topics were only discussed from a classificatory perspective with little theoretical interpretation. Two authors of the time period, Brown (1913) and Malinowski (1913)  In the early 1990s, Isaacs (1992) documented anecdotal stories across 'Aboriginal Australia' and in the process, he collected brief stories that related to pregnancy and childhood birth from Yirrkala in northern Australia.

Birthplace and Conception
The concept of conception and birthplace has been explored for connection to country, land ownership and art-based reasons however, greater focus could be placed on the importance of birth and conception to inform childhood developmental milestones and identity within remote settings. Brooks & Jorgensen (2015) discussed the relevance of birthplace and conception place in relations to art in the Ngaanyatjarra region. From an VOLUMEN 13 / JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2020 / ISSN 2027-1182 / BOGOTÁ-COLOMBIA / Páginas 1-25 magis 6 anthropological perspective, birthplace and conception has also been briefly documented in the Western Desert region by Merlan (1997)

Child-Focused Research
Towards the end of the 1920s and into the 1930s, two writers emerged in relation to childhood. These were: ethnographer Roheim (1974Roheim ( , 1988) and anthropologist, Thomson (1936Thomson ( , 1946Thomson ( , 1975Thomson ( , 1983, they documented observations and annotations of infants, childhood and the socialisation techniques of caregivers in Arnhem Land and Central Australia. Roheim was the first author to document play illustrations in Australia that provide understanding of the inner life of a child and their social practices. During 1929, Rohiem (1974 conducted eight months of fieldwork in Central Australia. Throughout this period, Rohiem used "protective play techniques" (Eickelkamp, 2010, p. 149)  images of Pitjantjatjara children. The authors highlighted the children's ability to be resourceful with games and play materials, children interacted with the siblings rather than dolls, they engaged in hunting and gathering for rabbits and maku (witchetty grubs), searching for water and played "story time" (Wallace & Wallace, 1968, p. 24). In relation to the school learning environment, Wallace & Wallace (1968) stated "The desert children enter a strange new world when they step into a school room, and at first its restrictions must be agonising to them. There is so little in our school activities that relates to their traditional background" (p. 36). Thomson's (1983) text, Children of the Wilderness described the everyday activities of children in a variety of regions across Australia and one of the regions is the 'Desert Dwellers'. He highlights that children are cared for by their siblings and "their play is based on imitation of the life activities of adults" (Thomson, 1983, p. 74). From the 1940s to 1980s, ethnographic fieldwork firmly broadened the literature into "kinship, comparative social organisation, male ritual life and mythology" (Eickelkamp, 2010, p. 150 for the comments on attachment in North-Central Arnhem Land, Morton's (1989) psychoanalytic explanation of the emblematic representations of the mother-child in some cultural institutions and Robinson's (1990)  (2011) used "Kanyininpa", meaning holding, looking after, nurturing (also documented by Myers, 1991, specifically in Pintupi country) to explore child rearing practices and attachment theory. Myers (1991) discussed the nurturing circumstance from childhood into adulthood.

Social Relations Literature
The In relation to the definition of parent, caregiver and family, it is important to note: the term 'family' within a First Nations Australian kinship system has a different definition to a non-First Nations Australian (Morphy, 2006). The definition of family for First Nations Peoples in Australia has been documented by a range of authors. Gray, Trompf & Houston (1991) discussed the term 'family' in relation to contemporary patterns of demography and the implications for children and welfare. Robinson (1990Robinson ( , 1992  Company (Franks & Curr, 1996)  process. The role of grandparents was also specifically noted as they teach children how to walk, talk, relate to others, kin and skin groups and cultural practices. Morton (1989)
These studies highlight the presence of play within First Nations contexts, however little information has been presented that focuses on the challenges in transitioning children aged zero to seven from the home environment to formalised school settings. Additionally, there is limited literature on the effect of environmental variables in the natural setting (see for example, Eickelkamp, 2011;Simpson & Wigglesworth, 2008;Disbray, 2008;Musharbash, 2013;Tonkinson, 2013).
There has been a limited range of literature related to children's games. Mountford (1973) outlined two observations from the Pitjantjarara region, one of a boys ceremony aged seven to thirteen and the other, a girls' leaf game, muni muni. Woenne (1973) gave a brief detail of children's games in the Docker River region, discussing babyhood, natural materials, "seldom manufactured games", times of day for certain activities and gender differences. However, all these areas of research could be explored in greater depth from an early years, zero to seven age range.
Story games using eucalyptus leaves that represent family groupings has been documented in Yuendemu (Haagen, 1994)  of physical objects such as toys, books, digital devices, television, child-oriented educational aids, play objects, common characteristics of playmates and parental attitudes (Heath & Street, 2008).
In the 'early times' of the region, children played with clay from the creek in the wet times of the year, gathering wet mud and creating horses, fences and saddles (Rockchild, 1999). Douglas Wallace was born in 1940, a traditional landowner of Ltyentye Apurte, he remembers the time when "whitefella toys weren't around, we made our own toys to play with. We'd leave them out and when the rain came at night it would destroy them.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Rockchild (1999) highlighted children were playing with leftover materials from the station owners and natural materials constructing wooden cars "by attaching wooden wheels to a piece of wood; old metal pipes were used to make axels and were doubled over at the ends to hold the wheels in place" (p. 15). Other objects included, sides made from bullock hides, flying foxes made with a rope and small pipe; tin buggies or little jeeps, made with tobacco tins and wire (Rockchild, 1999). The toys were described as "full of potential and made with loving care, and should be viewed as such, as well as being indicators of a rich cultural life and history" (p. 19). Rockchild (1999) specifically highlighted that bush toys were generally produced by boys and young men.
Girls and young women tended to make "playthings of a more domestic nature. Such as small houses, cooking implements and rag dolls" (p. 15).
Considering this information, gender specific toy production and usage could be explored in greater detail to inform contemporary gender specific practices in remote areas. Kimber presented a brief history of toys in Central Australia (Rockchild, 1999). In this history, Kimber highlighted in the importance of fire as a toy to not only make digging sticks and wooden vessels but for celebration, ceremony, food preparation but also for play with children. The concept of fire could be expanded and understood from everyday use of a modern child in a remote First Nations context. It should also be noted that there is a lack of literature relating to the use of home objects and utensils as play objects. This missing piece of literature could help to better understand the cross-usage of everyday objects with children.
According to Kimber, the most common bush toy modified from a manufactured object was the empty or partially sand filled treacle tin and the object was used to play the "motor car" game or "road-grader" game (Rockchild, 1999, p. 34). According to Kimber (Rockchild, 1999) children were often playing with crow bars and other hunting objects when out bush or in the community. Other objects such as matchboxes and cards came to Central Australia by the arrival of trains in the 1930s. During this time, toy rifles, aeroplanes and telephones (two tins and a string) were also very popular with boys across Australia due to the war (Rockchild, 1999).
During the 1950s and 1960s, there was an increase of Australia-wide vehicle ownership however, this did not reach remote regions until the 1970s.
When vehicles did reach remote regions, they were used for food and other essential supplies so the "proliferation of plastic and other toys" was available only in Alice Springs and not to remote communities.
In 2014, researchers sought to understand food security issues in Western Australian remote communities (Pollard, Nyaradi, Lester & Sauer, 2014 Kimber (Rockchild, 1999) states that this was due to the influence of the "Space Base", the American children living with their parents who worked at Pine Gap, the US base just outside Alice Springs. However, television didn't reach remote areas until the 1980s, with the inception of Impartja Television Pty Ltd. Currently, there is limited literature reviewing the impact of technology and specifically digital technology on childhood particularly in the early years. This is due to the recent inception of portable computer devices such as the tablets and smart phones, limited longitudinal research has been carried to see the impacts of young children.

Language Acquisition
Walker (Jacobs, 1988) Kral & Ellis (2008), however, these studies do not include children aged zero to three years.
The main concept discussed in early years research in remote areas is realted to 'baby talk'. Kral & Ellis (2008) described the use of baby talk in the Ngaanyatjarra region as it begins at the start of a baby's life through the "tactile interaction: cuddling, pinching of cheeks and kissing, in conjunction with the undulating prosodic contours of 'baby talk'" (p. 156). The authors found that Ngaanyatjarra babies and adults were participating in linguistic social and cultural processes. Baby talk has also been documented in Yuendemu (Bavin, 1993;Laughren, 1978).
Like many other First Nations cultures across the globe, oral narratives are the focal practice to learning (Kral & Ellis, 2008;Rogoff, 2003).
Storytelling and 'language play' have been documented in language learning in the Ngaanyatjarra and Pintupi region (Ellis et al., 2019;Kral & Ellis, 2008). Storytelling is a teaching method that is passed down through generations to "share and record culture and history" (Emery & Habel, 2017, p. 17). Disbray's (2008)  In regard to informal learning, Kral & Ellis (2008) suggested "literacy is being acquired and transmitted 'out-of-school'" (p. 167). More recently, Davidson (2018)  This is the "result of deeply paternalistic policy approaches based on evidence based decision-making that are detached from local realities" (Emery & Habel, 2017, p. 17). Two literature reviews have been conducted on First Nations education in Australia. The first was conducted by McConnochie & Russell (1982). Centres (Schwab, 1998;Schwab & Sutherland, 2001), providing an overview of five case studies from overseas and Australia, in Maningrida far North Arnhem Land.
From the mid-to-late-2000s, policy in First Nations education increased in paternalistic patterns (Altman, 2007). With the occurrence of the Northern Territory Intervention, academics discussed the importance of valuing diversity (Altman, 2009) and the critical discourse that developed during the Closing the Gap speeches and reports (Moore, 2012).
In 2004, Townsend-Cross discussed the importance of Indigenous perspectives in early childhood education at a keynote address at the Pacific Early-Childhood Education Research Association conference. During the address, she made note of the importance of 'culturally responsive teaching'. In 2015, Perso & Haywood (2015) published an education textbook, Teaching Indigenous Students to provide theoretical and practical understanding for practitioners and pre-service teachers working with Indigenous students and their families in urban, rural and remote contexts.
Within teaching and the institutions of education in remote areas, there has been a continued stream of literature and policy framed in a deficit discourse however, researchers such as Guenther, Bat & Osborne (2013) and

Learning On-Country
Children's learning experiences both in and out-of-school provide the profound effects on the child's achievement and how they function in society (Hull & Schultz, 2002;Resnick, 1987). The term 'out-of-school learning' refers to the acquisition of knowledge or skills out of the formalised school environment (Banks et al., 2007;Vadeboncoeur, 2006). Family learning seeks to develop lifelong learning across all age groups formally, informally or in a non-formal manner (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, 2017). Out-of-school learning can be described as 'going bush' or 'on-country' and is a key practice in the region that connects people to their lands through caring for country, hunting and ceremony (Fielding, Lawson, Lawson & Vost, 2010 Territory. Children's Ground take a health, education and wellbeing based approach to early childhood education. Learning is on-country and intergenerational with the wider community through three specific theories of change, focusing on community, systems and society change (Children's Ground, 2013). Although the holistic, on-country learning program is currently running in a remote setting and is highly admirable, the generalisability may be difficult to emulate in a larger quantity of remote settings.
Due to the program being in its infancy, there is no literature outlining the program limitations, successes or recommendations.

First Nations Early Childhood Educators
Since the 1980s, a range of literature has been presented from the view and importance of First Nations early childhood educators in schools.
Nungarrayi-Egan (1983) (Hall, 2018) was published which presented stories of seven First Nations teachers from remote Central Australia.

Remote Schooling
Within the remote context, a range of reviews have occurred since the 1990s. The first is the Tri State Project Review (1990) which outlined three sections: the 'problem' of remote education across the tri state area; detail of current state or territory and; a detail of the objectives. In the case, the tri state area referred to Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory. In 1996, the Commonwealth of Australia outlined a report on language learning entitled, Desert Schools (Clayton, Barnett, Kemelfield, & Mulhauser, 1996). Both reports, failed to provide the perspectives of families or the community and continued to analyse education outcomes based on Western ideologies and epistemologies. Tamisari & Milmilany (2003) presented a review of education in the Yolŋu region and the emergence of a bicultural curriculum initiative. This research could be re-created across all First Nations regions to give a place-based overview and recommendations for future in consultation with families and the community.

Playgroup and Pre-School Programs
In 2016 Gregory, Harman-Smith, Sincovich, Wilson & Brinkman conducted a review of the impact of playgroups across Australia. This was carried out by measuring attendance and the impact on child development using the Australia Early Development Census (AEDC) National data. There is a small section in remote and very remote findings however, the data collection methods do not consider the unique context of education in remote Australia. The AEDC data measures Western norms of childhood development. Overall, greater consideration for Moss, Harper & Silburn (2015) presented literature relating to the transition to a preschool readiness program in Central Australia. Vockins, Armstrong & Springs (2006) presented an evaluation of the Tjitji Tjutajar Project in the Pitjantjatjara region of Central Australia reviewing the early childhood program, an initiative by Australian Government. To date, research has been based around a Western construct of schooling and has failed to acknowledge First Nations learning processes. Although a range of research has been carried out to document First Nations language learning, it has been rarely used to influence pedagogy.
About the author Catherine Holmes recently completed her master's research on the introduction of Montessori teaching and learning practices in an Early Childhood Dossier Ethnography and Education: Collaborative Studies with Children and Youth Childhood, Play and School: A Literature Review in Australia classroom in a remote Indigenous school. She now hopes to extend her research to observe and describe the impact of play in child development within a remote Indigenous context. Catherine has a background in Early Childhood education and adult learning with Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers in the Central Australia.