Having begun as an enthusiastic graduate teacher in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in 1981, Penny Cook has over 40 years of experience in the early childhood sector.

She has worked in New South Wales; city, rural and remote South Australia and New York, in a wide range of roles including teacher, consultant, site leader, and project and policy officer. Penny is now working as Director of an integrated site in rural South Australia. Penny would like families to experience equity and respect for their cultural practices and beliefs to be able to rely on stable processes in a system that is easy to navigate.

“I love it when we have a professional learning community that can ask each other questions such as ‘what makes you say that?’, ‘how have you come to do things in this way?’ ‘who might be advantaged or disadvantaged by this action or thought?’ We’re currently working towards this at our centre and it takes trust, practice and unlearning.”