Molly: All of those emotional skills, the pro-social skills that all comes at this age. And I think we're in such a powerful position as educators and teachers to watch children develop into these beings that that learn all of those things. It's our job to really guide them on that path.
James: Hey, guys, it’s James from Year 13. I'm here with Molly. She's an early childhood teacher. We're at this beautiful location here at an early childhood service in Victoria. Today we're going to talk about early childhood education, what it's like, what qualifications you need to get started, and some of the really exciting things that can happen along the way and going
Molly: How are you?
James: Good, thanks. So a little while ago we asked you guys on Instagram what you thought
you knew about early childhood education and got to be honest, guys, a couple of misconceptions out there. So what we're going to do is we're going to play a little game of true or false. So the first one right off the bat is people have this idea that early childhood education is just glorified babysitting.
Molly: That is definitely false. I think I've definitely heard the misconception, and I think I definitely had that misconception on of my own before coming into the sector. But I soon realised that it's it's much more than babysitting or care is, as it used to be called. It's all about the education. And, you know, children's growth and development is such an important aspect of of early learning education. And, you know, 90% of a child's brain is developed by the time they're five. So that just that just shows that study alone that it's all about the education and the teaching behind it.
James: I assume it's also really about like setting kids up for success as they move into other stages of education as well.
Molly: Right? For sure. And not only just, you know, to set them up for school and for high school, it's it's about learning lifelong skills. And and that's what we're here for, is as teachers to guide them and and teach them those lifelong skills that they will have.
James: Yeah. It's so funny. I feel like I read some way or maybe it's like a video, but so much like most of the things we need to know about, like being a person, we're essentially like, taught at this time going to be like, be nice to each other, take turns like, this is stuff like it happens here.
Molly: Absolutely, all of those emotional skills, the pro-social skills that all comes at this age. And I think we're in such a powerful
position as educators and teachers to watch children develop into into these beings that that learn all of those things. And I think it's our job
to really guide them on that path.
James: All right. Next one up, there's financial support available for people wanting to study early childhood education.
Molly: True. So I wouldn't be a teacher without the financial support that I received. And there's up to $34,000 of that that the government provide for teachers trying to get qualified into the sector. There is also free TAFE courses. Another point to make is the relocation support that's available for teachers looking for job opportunities to relocate to Victoria. And there are so many more options online.
James: Awesome. So yeah, definitely go check it out, right?
Molly: Definitely.
James: And the next one I want us to talk about is this idea that you can’t make a difference in early childhood education.
Molly: This one is definitely false. I think this one makes me most sad because that's why I come to work every day. It's where the passion lies for most educators and teachers that we come to make a difference and we come with this idea that that we’re, teaching children everything, that we're teaching them their lifelong skills. And, you know, we do follow it particular framework that helps children reach those learning outcomes. And that's what we're all about. We're here to teach.
James: Awesome. Thank you so much for clearing all these up. It's really helpful.
Molly: Thank you.
[End transcript]
Updated