Herein we provide a literature synthesis pertaining to the state of Aboriginal early childhood education in Canada. We identify key features of quality Aboriginal early childhood programs. The background and significance of early childhood education for Aboriginal peoples is explicated. Cultural compatibility theory is employed as the philosophical basis to conceptualize quality Aboriginal early childhood education. Based on this theoretical premise, we suggest Aboriginal early childhood programs should incorporate Aboriginal pedagogy, be infused with Aboriginal language and culture, be adequately staffed by qualified Aboriginal educators, be structured to empower Aboriginal communities and incorporate full-day kindergarten. Prominent Aboriginal early childhood programs are featured within the article.

Aboriginal early childhood education in Canada: Issues of context

Unattended social wants and corporate social responsibility of leading firms: Relationship of intrinsic motivation of volunteering in proposed welfare programs and employee attributes

This article presents an outline history of early childhood programs for indigenous children through a comparative study of initiatives in three countries—Canada, Australia and New Zealand—with the...

Early Childhood Education Programs for Indigenous Children in Canada, Australia and New Zealand: An Historical Review:

This article reflects a survey of a number of federally sponsored Aboriginal early learning programs in place throughout Canada in 2008. Information regarding policy and curriculum, governance structure, assessment standards, and challenges associ ated with specific programs are explicated. This survey of programs revealed that, in order to be effective, Aboriginal early learning programs must meet a number of criteria, including the encouragement of parental and community participation and the incorporation of a culturally-appropriate, holistic perspective of learning. Pres ently, Aboriginal early learning programs face a number of formidable challenges including the inaccessibility of programs for parents living in remote or rural areas, infrastructural limitations, funding issues, and lack of cooperation among federal and provincial/territorial departments.

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Enhancing Aboriginal Child Wellness: The Potential of Early Learning Programs

Today in Canada, child care is not perceived by the government, nor its citizenry, as a public good. Despite numerous reports from economic, health, social and psychological experts, Canadians remain complacent about the inadequate child care provisions in our country. As a society, we do not demand, or even anticipate, the public provision of universal, affordable, accessible child care. Instead, Canadians consider the care of children to be a predominantly private issue; unworthy of significant government intervention or assistance. Consequently, parents and children must improvise within a privatized, ad hoc, market-oriented patchwork of individualized child care arrangements. While it is true that certain "special" cases are acknowledged to deserve the government's support, for example Aboriginal children and children with special needs, as well as the children of "welfare moms" their exceptional status serves to reinforce the notion that the care of children is primarily a private parental responsibility. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and critique the current child care system (or lack thereof) in Canada. In addition, I intend to show that existing child care arrangements are unsatisfactory not only because of the immediate consequences for parents, children, and child care workers, but because of the way in which the privatized purchasing of child care reinforces other systemic shortcomings in our patriarchal, racialized, capitalist society. I will argue that current attitudes toward child care in Canada, as part of a patriarchal capitalist and racialized paradigm, rely on and perpetuate detrimental notions of class, gender and race, to the disadvantage of all citizens. Finally, I will discuss the possibilities for meaningful reform of the Canadian approach to child care. i i i < • TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i i Table of

Judith A. Colbert

Papers

Child Care and the Family-Work Balance: An International Perspective on Needs and Responses in Aboriginal Communities.