DO YOU HAVE TO TURN AWAY FAMILIES WHO CAN’T AFFORD THE FEES? No we have not turned away anyone due to the fact that we have 20% of our enrolment spaces available under a “Hope for Gaia” scholarship, so that we can lift trajectories in whānau and tamariki who may have lost their pathways of hope for their futures. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE? I am motivated to bring out amazing potential and incredible good in people (teachers and children). I also love to see the positive impacts of problem solving (between teams, families, children, partnerships) – no matter how mundane or complex. It gives me a real satisfying sense of creating something out of nothing and something good in this world. WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE A PERSON THINKING ABOUT STUDYING TO BECOME A QUALIFIED ECE TEACHER? IS IT WORTHWHILE? Teaching is a calling that we have been doing since the dawn of time to advance our civilisations. It isn’t a backup plan or a fast track to get to another destination. Like my grandmother, parents and father-in-law have shown (and still showing), teaching is a lifelong journey of learning and developing with the one promise that you will be the closest person we have in the entire human race with the power to influence the next generation and future of our species. WHAT HAS MADE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE TO YOUR ROLE IF YOU COMPARE WHERE YOU ARE TODAY TO WHAT IT WAS LIKE WHEN YOU STARTED IN THE ECE SECTOR? I was surrounded by supporting mentors and managers and during the years when I wasn’t, it taught me valuable lessons of how “not” to do something, treat people, run a business, or operate an ECE. Reflecting September 2022 { 28 }
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