My journey in education has taken me from tertiary, to secondary, to primary, through Steiner primary education and finally to the most enriching and the most vital sector of the educational hierarchy….to early childhood. it’s like Maslow’s hierarchy of self-actualisation: it all starts here!
At no other time in our lives do we ever learn with the voracious, insatiable enthusiasm as in these first years and I am fascinated by watching children and observing how they are learning all the time, and how, so very often, our primary role is simply to provide resources,role-models, contexts and a living environment in which they can learn and grow. In most contexts, we seem to barely scratch the surface in terms of providing for their innate, hardwired longing and desire to make sense of the world and learn about how it all works.
I offer a range of workshops as a professional development facilitator, as well as working ‘on the floor’ as frequently as I can. I love exploring the ways in which theory and practice inform each other, and the more I observe children playing (and therefore learning) the more I appreciate the reason for my logo :
2 play 2 learn 2 live.
To play is primary, through play we learn, and with that learning, we are able to live deeper, richer and more creative and productive lives, with healthy, respectful and satisfying relationships. And then we are able to continually repeat the cycle throughout our lives. To play is to learn, to learn is to live, and to live is to play…a never ending cycle.
As George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing”.
All inventions, discoveries and creations, whether in the field of science, the arts, mathematics, engineering, you name it…it always begins with play. “I wonder what would happen if……………………?”
I work both as an early childhood teacher and as a PD facilitator which means that my contributions to the community of learners is based on current, practical experience and insights about the relationship between practice and theory.
Employment Experience (at one time or another, not all at once or right now!)
- Full time Early Childhood Teacher
- Professional Development Facilitator(MOE funded) for Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa.
- Proofreader and Editor
- Independent Professional Development Provider
- Visiting University Supervisor/Associate Teacher
- Primary School Teacher
- Dance facilitator/ Artist
- Storyteller
- Fibre artist
- Graduate Diploma in Teaching (ECE)
- Diploma in Teaching (Primary)
- MA Honours in English
- Diploma in Steiner Education
- Full registration