AUGUST 2024
I am an Australian early childhood teacher, and I have worked in a variety of roles centred around children, families and education for seventeen years. I have worked in many places in Australia, and I spent one year in the USA. I have been an early childhood educator or childcare worker, an early childhood teacher or kindergarten teacher, a babysitter, a nanny, an au pair and a tutor. I have worked in childcare centres, stand-alone kindergartens, after school care, private family homes, and in online education. This vast and varied experience has provided me with many opportunities, and I have grown so much professionally over my time in the field of early childhood education and care.
I am passionate about early childhood education and care, and have always strived to offer my students the best possible learning experiences that are relevant, child-centred and play-based. I love connecting meaningfully with families and their children, and watching them blossom. I have often sought out further training and development, especially in regards to brain development and child and family wellbeing.
When working with teams of teachers and educators, I have often found myself in mentor-like roles, even when I have not openly volunteered to do so. I have often been unintentionally regarded as the “go to” girl for information, ideas, and dilemmas in the workplace. I love working as part of a team, and find great happiness in sharing moments of joy, success and creativity with my coworkers, as well as my students. I felt an underlying need to offer more to my profession.
A co-teacher I was working with suggested to me, multiple times, to share what I know, about working in the field of early childhood education and care. “Have you ever thought about teaching people how to do what you do?” She would ask. She encouraged me to consider teaching what I do, because she thought I did it well. I began to wonder how exactly I could share my knowledge and experience with others in the field. Could I assist experienced teachers and educators to reflect upon their own practice? Could I assist new or beginning teachers and educators to form their own personal teaching styles and approaches? Could I offer guidance and advice to parents of children that attend early years services?
Asking this of myself has resulted in “Jessie O’s Teacher Talks” coming to life, where I share my own experiences of working in the field of early childhood, and what I have learnt along the way. I intend to provide a source of support and guidance in sharing my own experiences with other professionals.
As a new early childhood educator and teacher starting out myself, there was little to no online community to readily access for support, information and guidance. I vividly remember how difficult it was to navigate the world of early childhood, of children, childhood development, emotional needs of children, behaviour guidance, learning through play, family expectations, family dynamics, staff expectations, management expectations, legal requirements, laws, regulations, policies, forms, paperwork, program design, observation writing, learning extension designs, and critical reflection writing, all the while trying to work out who I was as a young adult in the world, and trying to still be a young adult while the rest of the world expected me to instantly transform into a professional. I valued the guidance and support I received from my family, my peers, my colleagues, my fellow university students, my university lecturers, my management teams, and my many mentors. I was blessed to usually have someone around me who was patient, helpful and supportive, but I did not always find this support.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, with a lack of support at times, I encourage you to reach out to your mentors, make connections with other staff and leaders that you look up to, connect with online communities of other educators and teachers via social media, as well as official early childhood online forums and published newsletters. Do not feel like you are alone. I have found that it is important to reflect upon my difficult and challenging times, in order to improve my practice, to make life easier for myself “the next time around”.
In sharing my own past experiences on this blog, I have maintained complete confidentiality. I do not name any children, services, staff, or families. Any names that are mentioned have been made up for the purpose of telling a story, or sharing an experience.
Thank you for reading. If you have a particular topic or question you would like me to explore, I encourage you to send it through to me via my contact form, found under the “contact” option on my menu, and I will do my best to address it. Whether you are an educator, teacher, or work with young children in some other capacity, you are already amazing for choosing this path, and even more so for reading blogs like this to seek further support and development. I wish all the best to you all!
