FULL REFERENCE: McInnes, E., Harris, P., Neill, B., Diamond, A., Brock, C., and Camaitoga U. (2021). Supporting preschool age children’s wellbeing through home-based literacy development in three Fijian communities. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 23(2), 36 – 51.
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ABSTRACT: This paper reports wellbeing outcomes for three-to-five-year-old children, their families and communities arising from 3-year Australian-funded research into ways to develop sustainable local capacity in communities in Fiji without access to childhood services to foster their preschool children’s literacy development in home languages and English. Participants included 51 children and their 44 iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) and Indo-Fijian families in three communities. Families identified the project supported children’s sense of identity, agency, belonging and language development through improved oral expression in home languages and English, enjoyment of creating and reading books, and closer family relationships. Families and community members also said children’s confidence in learning success supported their positive attitudes to attending formal learning, and that the research process supported their collective efforts in fostering children’s literacy development along with trans-generational and cross-cultural learning.
Key words: Literacy, home language, reading, home learning, trans-generational learning, cross-cultural learning, indigenous.
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