There has been a push and emphasis by the industry, the government as well as society as a whole on introducing children in the early childhood setting to Indigenous and Aboriginal perspectives and culture so that they can increase their awareness of the First Australians and understand the origins of this country. This is also to correct past wrongs and injustices as well as the erasure and exclusion of Australia's First Nations in the past.

Personally, I have experienced how different centres have approached these two pedagogical issues.

( Refer to Annotated Note 1)

In Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, children/ the learner develop cognitive functions through interactions with a more knowledgeable other. Another important aspect of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is the Zone of proximal development, which is the difference between the child's current actual achievement level and his/her potential achievement level through collaboration and guidance with a more knowledgeable other.

In both pedagogical issues identified above, the sociocultural learning theory can be applied in real teaching practise and I believe is directly applicable to the effective transmission of both Indigenous perspectives and climate awareness. ( Refer to Annotated Note 2)

Shay and Lampert (2020) lays out in detail how the Indigenous people of Australia define their own community and community engagement as well as how colonial legacies and definitions continue to affect community and education policies to this day. ( Refer to Annotated Note 4)

Instead of focusing on tokenistic expressions, as educators facing the pedagogical issue of how to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into an early childhood education setting, we first need to understand in detail how Indigenous people understand the world around them and the essence of their culture. This should be the priority and foundation before any concrete action can be made.

Working with and learning from Country: decentering human authority (Country, B. et al, 2015) is a very good source of reference in which a detailed explanation is made in academic terms for educators to understand how the Yolgnu people in the Northern Territory understand the world and what we can learn from them. ( Refer to Annotated Note 3).

As educators in the Australian early childhood education space, learning from the New Zealand early childhood curriculum of Te Whariki has been highly recommended for its comprehensive inclusion of indigenous language, culture and perspectives. It can be argued that New Zealand has definitely led the way in their educational approach, and Australia has a lot to learn from them.

Panelli and Tipa (2007) lays out how Maoris view the environment and their sense of place as well as how that influences Maori behaviour and understanding towards nature. ( Refer to Annotated Note 5)

In the future, both pedagogical issues can be approached through a sociocultural theory lens in the classroom. Children through interaction with and the guidance of a more knowledgeable other can acquire a better understanding of both Indigenous knowledge and climate awareness, which is key in their future.

I have seen action in person on how educators in the industry have engaged and grappled with both of these pedagogical issues and therefore I believe I am qualified enough to identify and analyse them in this assignment.

In an early childhood education setting in Australia, the inclusion of environmental awareness and climate change education is key to ensuring that future generations have an understanding of what is facing them and is equipped with skills for them to take action for their own future.

Specifically, state governments such as the Victorian and NSW Education Departments in Australia have printed guidelines and action guides for schools and early childhood centres to reduce their climate footprint as well as incorporate environmental and climate education in a day to day classroom setting.

Different state governments have produced documents and outlines guiding environment based education and other non-governmental organisations have also produced guidelines of best practice ( Refer to Annotated Note 6).