Reconciliation in Early Childhood Education: A Living and Relational Journey

This paper examined reconciliation in early childhood education as a living, relational, and ethical process rather than a policy compliance exercise. Drawing on contemporary literature, and the Western Australian context, it explored how reconciliation is enacted through truth telling, relational pedagogy, and culturally responsive practice in daily interactions with children, families, and communities. Genuine reconciliation emerges through small, meaningful actions such as language greetings, community collaborations, and learning on Country. Consideration of reconciliation as a living and relational journey challenges tokenism, educator discomfort, and structural constraints that can restrict sustained engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, educators, and communities in early childhood education. Relational accountability, professional reflection, and two-way partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are central to reconciliation in practice. Childhood education holds transformative potential as a site of cultural renewal when grounded in truth, care, and collegial responsibility, where reconciliation is embodied each day.