Moving away from the deficit perspective: Aboriginal child development in partnership with families

ABSTRACT A “diversity as fundamental heterogeneity” approach is required to contest the widely held perspective that Aboriginal children in remote communities in central Australia are growing up in deficit and disadvantage. This article discusses the current language perpetuating the deficit model of Aboriginal child development that is failing to recognise strengths of Aboriginal children growing up in remote communities in central Australia. Through stories about daily life in Papunya, this article argues that to understand and measure Aboriginal child development, it is necessary to also understand the child’s cultural context in which they are living and learning. Participant selection was conducted using key participants who became community researchers in the research project. The main findings were Aboriginal children in Papunya must grow up with a “two-ways” approach to education that prioritises their own culture and language.