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Celebrating International Women's Day
Women make up a large percentage of the workforce in education, and more than 80% of the workforce in the early childhood education industry is female. At the beginning of a child’s learning journey, it is these wonderful women who provide important support, care and attention to their learning and development. As a special interview for International Women's Day, we invited several teachers from Wellington College Bilingual Tianjin Nursery to talk about why they chose the early childhood education industry and what they think and feel as women.
Jan Bennett
Head of Early Years
Working in Early Years or even in primary schools, there are a lot of women that work in these particular sectors, and then the balance, once you get into senior school, tends to be a little bit more equal across genders. I think that there's always been this expectation that women work in Early Years and primary because it's when the children need most care and nurturing, but I also think society has moved on now when there is an expectation and understanding that as a father, you also have a role to play. So, seeing a better balance starting to come into the Early Years is something that is definitely happening.
For me, as a female who has worked in education for more than 30 years, I think that I always saw this as a career, not a job. This is something that I had a belief in and a true passion for. And it's also the route that I saw for me as a leader and as a researcher, as someone who investigated things that I felt needed more work or things that needed to develop within the school I worked in.
When I worked in London, I used to have a dreadful work-life balance. I think what's important is that you create a balance. As with all of the staff in the Nest, I spend a lot of hours caring for other people's children, a lot of hours prioritizing the learning for other people's children and making sure that other people's children are making progress. It's really important therefore that, even when we get home at the end of a long day and we are a little bit tired, we need to take the time to be able to have conversations with our own children. It can be challenging but I learned that it's important to prioritize my mental health and have time for my family.
Speaking as a global citizen, on a more global scale, rather than just what's happening in the Nest, I would like to see a reflection of the number of women who work in the Early Years or primary school also reflected in the percentage of women who are in leadership roles, particularly senior leadership within a school. I think society still needs to wake up to just how amazing women are and the fact that they are strong leaders, they are multi-taskers. They are the people who can be caring and passionate, just the same as men in the industry. Happily, things are changing, and now there is a better balance.
Lisa Li
Deputy Head of Early Years
I had a dream of becoming a teacher when I was little. I liked to play with children and to be their little teacher and even give lectures to them. I believe what is so special about early years is that the children have a strong internal motivation and the adults don’t have to interfere a lot. It’s the adults who often feel that the children need help, but the children have greater potential than many adults can imagine. What adults need to do is to provide an appropriate environment and support for them. The children are curious about everything. That’s why they try to touch everything. Children are very generous as well. Even when adults misunderstand them, they might cry, but they will still hug the adult afterwards. While working with children, we can gain energy from them every day. This is truly one of the happiest jobs in the world.
I have so many happy moments. Recently I was teaching the Nest children Chinese idioms as an ASA class to introduce more traditional Chinese culture to our curriculum. I felt so happy when the children told me that they were looking forward to Thursdays because that was when we were having the class. I would plan my class carefully to make sure that every child was engaged and having fun in my class. A boy said to me as seriously as an adult, “Ms Lisa, you are a good teacher. I think your class is very interesting. You are very responsible.” I was so happy to hear that. The feedback from the children motivates me further.
To be honest, I don’t have many tips to share with you on this because I don’t think I have a perfect work-life balance. My passion for early years education is driving my dedication to my work. I’m very grateful to my family who are always there to support me. That’s why I don’t think I have a good work-life balance, but this job brings me a lot of benefits as well. I have learned so much more about how to treat others and how to be a good role model for the children. I can bring the knowledge and experience that I obtain from work and think about how to get along with my family. This job provides me with opportunities to reflect on what I did, how to positively communicate with my child, how to improve my relationship with my family members. I think this is a very important benefit.
For a woman who expects to realize more of her abilities and potential in the workplace and try to balance her work and life at the same time, can be challenging. But I think what’s the most important is to take good care of yourself. Only when you take good care of yourself can you improve your work.
Davina Edwards
Reception Teacher
Having been in the education field for twenty years, there is nothing more rewarding than teaching in the Early Years. There is nothing more fascinating than observing a child go from making marks on a page to shapes that become letters, letters that become words and words that become sentences, whilst having the satisfaction in knowing that you were responsible for making this process happen. Literacy is one component in the early year's journey. What makes the early years so special is that you can educate the whole child. This is something I passionately believe in. As a teacher, you are able to influence the development of a child not just academically but also socially and emotionally. You are also responsible for catering to the variety of learners in the classroom, facilitating their varying needs and interests. This is what ensures that no two days are the same.
I cannot recall a single moment of happiness as there have been so many. The ‘light bulb’ moments whereby a child, having understood or made a new discovery, is always full of joy. However, I can comment on a particular year. This year, in particular, the class was made up of children from every corner of the globe. Their unique talents and personalities made the classroom a truly global and dynamic experience. This learning environment was project-based. I nurtured a learning environment in which each child was able to use their talents and gifts to contribute to solving a problem and or produce a product. However, the excitement came during the collaborative process. Children were able to support each other to acquire new skills and gain concepts. Presenting their findings to staff, parents and in some cases, on external international platforms. There was also great joy in sharing and celebrating each other’s cultures with food, dance and music. Teaching is truly a profession that spreads joy, happiness and hope.
Jordan Zhao
Reception Teacher
It’s been ten years since I started in teaching as an intern. Even before I became a mother, I have always enjoyed being with the children. I can feel a sense of accomplishment when a child gives me feedback when I ask a question because this means the child is not nervous or shy anymore. They share their feelings only when they see the teachers as their friends.
After I gave birth to my child, I could understand children better and developed my philosophy of education as well. For example, children can be very persistent when they keep trying something and adults can give them more freedom and space to try. I would like to share something very impressive that happened in my class. The children were playing with water. A boy took some sand from the sandpit and put it in the water tank. It looked like he was being naughty and made a mess, but the teachers allowed him to keep doing what he wanted to do. It turned out that he was using pipes as a tool to drain the water out from the tank and only leave the sand in it. If the adults stopped him in this process, we would be stopping the child from exploring. Instead of doing so, the teachers observed him first. Perhaps the boy was also in the process of trying and he would slowly find out a purpose for his “experiments”. When he had his final results, it could be a big surprise both for him and the teachers. This boy was only four years old, but in the process of the game, he already saw the physical phenomenon that sand does not dissolve in water but settles at the bottom of the water.
In addition, I feel that now I can be more relaxed with the children and I am able to think out of the box. Sometimes children have their own ideas and wouldn’t do as the adults say, and the parents might be worried that the children will be spoiled if we let them be this way. But I think when the children have their own ideas or want to try something for themselves, adults should provide them with the opportunities to do so. My two-year-old girl wanted to wash her hands by herself when she saw me washing my hands. If I stopped her just because I was worried that she might get wet, she would lose this valuable chance to learn.
Yana Logvinova
Nursery Teacher
Since I was little, I have always loved little children. But honestly, I never thought I would become an Early Years teacher in the future. In my childhood, I enjoyed learning foreign languages, and I have been teaching English to students in junior and senior schools for many years. But after the birth of my own child, I realized that teaching young children was so amazing. This was how it started.
Working with children is very special for me because I love the way they look at the world. I love to see them grow and I love to see all the things they learn and how surprised they are at things. It is that innocence that makes them so unique. I like to see how genuine they are and at the same time, I love to learn from them. Even though they might be little, they are great teachers just because of the way they see life. That is why we, as teachers and parents, have to be careful what we are teaching the children because they are like sponges, absorbing everything that is happening around them, either good or bad.
Being an Early Years teacher does not mean you only have to get a qualification and you can forget about everything that you learned before. It’s nonstop learning. It’s the learning of your whole life while you are teaching the little ones because education is developing.
I feel very confident in being a female teacher. I think my own experience in motherhood played a very important role in becoming an Early Years teacher as I mentioned. It helps me to deeply understand the expectation of the parents who bring their children to Wellington and I can share my own experience with them if they need any guidance.
There is a really nice quote, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It means that you have to do something you really enjoy. Otherwise, whatever you do, no matter how you try to balance your life, it won't work. It has to be something that brings you joy in your life. For me, it's very important because before I also tried different kinds of jobs, but it was really hard to balance my work and life when the job didn’t bring you this much joy. But now, I love what I'm doing and it helps me to enjoy my life.
Wendy Chen
Nursery Teacher
I chose to become an Early Years teacher mainly because I love children. Working in the Early Years brings me a great sense of value and happiness. When I am with the children, I feel surrounded by their love. When the children accomplish some work and share it with me, when they hug me gently, I always feel loved and needed. I feel that being an Early Years teacher is the happiest job in the world. I also feel accomplished when I witness the children doing so many things for the first time in their lives. I feel extremely proud when I see the children's growth and development every time.
Since I was a child, I have always felt that teaching is a noble career. My teachers gave me knowledge and made me who I am now. I feel that education is the foundation of a nation and the way to build a country. A good education cannot be achieved without a good teacher. I keep doing this noble job and let knowledge and love spread to the whole world. As an Early Years teacher, it is a great honour for me to be with the children on their learning journey and witness them growing up happily. I also feel honoured to do my part in the development of early childhood education.
I hope I can shine in the career I love. I hope that every child can be healthy, happy, confident and brave. I hope that they can have a happy childhood and be able to create a happy future.
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