As a teenager, UCOL Early Childhood Education (ECE) lecturer, Erin Hall, says she knew becoming a teacher was her calling and she hasn’t looked back since.
“From starting as a kindergarten teacher in the 1980s to now being lecturer at UCOL has been an incredible journey.”
“It’s amazing how early childhood education has evolved over the years and continues to change with new theories and ways of learning coming out all the time. It is a career that is certainly interesting and diverse, and provides ongoing opportunities for personal growth, development and learning.”
It was in her final year of high school that Erin says she was thinking about what career path to take that she decided she wanted to be an early childhood teacher.
“I knew wanted to work with children but didn’t want to be a primary school teacher, so I visited the local kindergarten where I grew up in Huntly and instantly felt teaching pre-schoolers would be a great fit for me. Watching how the teachers worked and interacted with the children was in line with my values and beliefs at the time around nurturing and helping young people learn and develop.”
After completing her Kindergarten Diploma in Palmerston North in 1984, Erin began her career as an early childhood teacher, getting her first job at a kindergarten in Rotorua. Two years later she decided to take her skills across the Tasman where she relished working in a kindergarten in Sydney for 5 years. However, after getting married and becoming a mum to her daughter, Erin says it was time to come home to New Zealand to be closer to family.
“We settled in Nelson where I enjoyed kindergarten head and senior teacher roles. I also decided I wanted to upgrade my qualification to a Degree in ECE so I enrolled to do my Masters through Canterbury University. As it was a combination of distance learning and block courses, where I would travel to Christchurch, I was able to complete my studies, all in between having my son.”
Once she completed her Masters, Erin says her new partner at the time was offered work in Dunedin so they took the opportunity to move and she gained a teaching role at Open Polytechnic, where she worked for 7 years before joining
UCOL Whanganui.
“I found that being able to pass on my passion of ECE and helping others to become an early childhood teacher very rewarding, however, I was missing being closer to my daughter and grandson in New Plymouth and mum and dad in Huntly, so when the opportunity arose to work at UCOL Whanganui I jumped at the chance.”
Erin says she has loved the transition from working with an online tertiary institute to now face to face teaching in a classroom setting and working alongside a team at UCOL.
“I believe in the value of building relationships with my ākonga, and being there to support them in the classroom is really helpful during their learning journey. Working with students to help them succeed in an area I’m passionate about is very rewarding.”
“The kaimahi are so welcoming and supportive. I have felt included and welcomed since I started here and have appreciated the sense of whānau at UCOL Whanganui.”
Since starting at UCOL, Erin says she has also enjoyed the extra research opportunities that have arisen outside of her lecturing role, in particular the formation of a research group of colleagues who have collaborated over the last few years to investigate inclusion and diversity within ECE.
“The opportunity to be engaged in this research came about as a shared interest with our research group to explore what factors facilitated or hindered the inclusion of disabled kaiako in ECE and student kaiako in initial teacher education programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
“This research has resulted in several projects and publications which informs our ECE community about issues of inclusion for kaiako with disability and raises awareness of equity. We have found that giving voice to disabled and diverse kaiako is important and aligns with our ECE curriculum document Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017) in which tamariki are viewed as competent and capable.
“Another research project around neurodiverse kaiako in ECE is currently underway with further publications due later in the year or early next year.”
Erin says ECE it is a wonderful career that holds a space for everyone, fosters personal development and enables people to enjoy a fulfilling sense of helping children learn as they grow.
“For those thinking of studying ECE,
UCOL’s Certificate and Diploma programmes are ideal pathway options to start with, as they can lead ākonga to Degree studies to gain a full teaching qualification,” says Erin.
“I love how ECE is for people of all ages and stages in their career, whether they’re just starting out or wanting to completely change their line of work.”
“It is a career where every day is different, you get to develop those warm and trusting relationships with the kids and their families, and with new information around children’s development and teaching theories coming out often, you are forever learning.”
She says the extra support available to students at UCOL is a real strength of the institute and helps to achieve positive learning outcomes.
“As well as support from kaiako in the classroom, there are also wonderful services available through the Student Success team. They are very helpful, accessible and supportive of all ākonga.”