Introduction —

Early childhood education (ECE) — if you’ve been following Australia study and migration news lately, you’ve probably heard it mentioned again and again.

It’s true that ECE graduates are easy to employ, the migration pathways are strong, and there are all kinds of courses available.

But many people keep coming back to the same question:Is working in ECE really that tough?

Today’s study-and-migration story featuresYolanda

a woman who has been inseparable from early childhood education every step of the way — from studying abroad, to working in the field, to starting her own business.She says her career will always be connected to early childhood education.

Read on to hear what ECE looks like through her eyes.

If you’d prefer to watch the video

press and hold the QR code below

Considering leaving China — for very real reasons

It was around 2014 that I first started thinking about going overseas. Around 2013 and 2014, thecompany I was working for was facingredundancies.

So at the time I felt like I’d been working for four or five years, and I thought I needed togive myself a fresh breakthrough.

Back in China I was working in management, but I’ve always loved children. In my spare time I would teach children things here and there,so early childhood education had really been running through my entire work experience in China.

When I saw that early childhood education was an actual degree programme, I was immediately drawn to it.

So I said to myself: when I go to Australia, this is what I want to study.

When everyone was against it — thankfully he always supported me

But at the time, family and friends around me — including relatives — when they heard ‘early childhood education’, most of them probably thought: you’ve already got an undergraduate degree and you’ve been working for so many years,why go overseas

to study early childhood education of all things?

I think there was probably a misunderstanding about the field, or a kind of instinctive bias towards it.

But my boyfriend — now my husband — gave me enormous support, and that meant the world to me.

He could see that this was areally excellent industry, especially in Australia. And he also knew that early childhood education waswhere my passion lay,so he gave me tremendous support.

So I went ahead and applied for the programme.

Hard work here always pays off

When I first came overseas I enrolled in a Master of Education, and immediately after that I completed a Master of Teaching. I think both of those academic backgrounds have been enormously helpful to me — whether in terms of employment or running my own business.

And Australia has a relatively relaxed and open environment that is well-suited to studying and working hard.

What I mean is: as long as you study diligently and put in enough effort, your study and work here can be genuinely excellent, and you’ll always find opportunities that are a great fit for you.

So from my own experience,Australia’s more comfortable, open, and relaxed atmosphere actually helps you strive and work towards your goals.

Opening the childcare centre I always envisioned

Honestly, I went into early childhood education with the idea of opening a childcare centre right from the start. After graduating I got involved in some projects, and while working on those projects I was also scouting locations, looking for the most suitable place.

At the time I weighed up various factors from all angles, and in the end the first childcare centre opened on the Northern Beaches.Successfully opening that first centre was enormously helpful to my overall development. A year later I felt I had enough experience to open a second one.

Because this childcare centre is one I wanted to open for myself — one I genuinely wanted to do well —I chose to start with a small centre, so that in the beginning I could manage it more carefully and put into practice the educational philosophy I wanted to convey.

Every morning when I first arrive at the centre, I’ll pop into the rooms to see whether the teachers need any help, check that all the children have arrived, and look through the system to make sure all the parents have signed in and out — that’s extremely important for safety. After that I’ll deal with some emails.

The most important thing for me each day at the centre is: the moment something happens, or the moment I feel my help is needed immediately, I go straight there.

In running a childcare centre, children always come first.

As I said — if any child has any need, I’ll be there immediately. I also need to understand the children thoroughly, because only then do I know what kinds of programmes to set for them, or how to update the daily workflow to make it better. That takes a very long time to get right.

Putting yourself in their shoes — doing education properly

Whether in work or in running a business, there will always be challenges. I’ve never felt that any particular challenge left me lost or confused.Because when difficulties and problems arise, we just solve them — there’s always a solution.

So my view is: the childcare centre you open should be one you’d be willing to put your own child into.

I don’t think any difficulty has genuinely upset me. What I did find hard to accept was when I was helping others open centres and came across people whose motivations for opening a childcare centre were different from mine — the back-and-forth of working through that, including the decision-making process, was something I found very difficult. But it also accelerated my own desire to open the centre I truly wanted.

I still want to do education properly. My future career will definitely be connected to early childhood education,and I don’t mind expanding the scope. My standard for myself is that every childcare centre I open must maintain its quality of education and quality of care for children.

I’d also like to try opening centres in other places — other countries — because first and foremost I really want to bring this strong educational philosophy back to China. That’s a long-term goal of mine, and a vision I hold.

On top of broadening the scope and reach of my career, I’ll also look for opportunities — when time and circumstances allow — to continue my own studies and keep deepening my knowledge.

Teachers don’t actually teach children

The development of my educational philosophy has been a very long process. I’ve absorbed all kinds of ideas and methods about education from different people — from teachers, from children, from my colleagues, and from my fellow students.

When I went deep into my placement,Icould see that the teachers here genuinely care for the children — truly and deeply — and they treat other people’s children with their own love,that had a profound impact on me, and it also laid the foundation of my own educational philosophy.

As teachers, we are not here to teach children — we grow together with them and learn together with them. We don’t see ourselves as teachers; we see ourselves and the children as co-learners, learning alongside each other.

Early childhood education is not simply about me telling a child what to do. It’s not that the classroom is the only place where education happens — rather, every moment of everyday life is an opportunity for education.

The core of early childhood education, put simply, is the child. Everything centres on the child.

As long as you have enough love, you will nurture children well,if your own knowledge is lacking, you will go and learn — you’ll keep refining your knowledge in order to nurture children well. As long as you have love, you will care for children well. So as long as there is love, a childcare centre cannot fail.

For me personally, whether in work, in business, or in dealing with people, I hold firmly to one belief,do your work honestly; be a genuine person — those two phrases might sound ordinary, but they really are my own standard for how I conduct myself and my work. Do things well, and after doing them well, there will always be opportunities to go further.

I am someone who likes to think things through. I always look for the positive side. Of course, for many things I’ll prepare for the worst, but I approach everything with a positive mindset.

A note from the producer —

We’ve now done two seasons of Australia migration and study stories. Friends who’ve followed us for a long time may have heard many of our featured guests say: “In Australia’s relatively relaxed and open environment, as long as you put your heart into it and work steadily, one day you will succeed.”

I believe this is also one of the key reasons so many people decide to migrate to Australia.

In Australia, ‘lying flat’ can give you a comfortable life;

equally, in Australia, if you’re willing to work hard and tend to your craft, you can — like so many of our featured guests — carve out your own place in the world.

——Olym Li

If you’re also interested in ECE

If, like Yolanda, you’d also like to pursue a career in early childhood education

we recommend this fast, low-barrier, low-cost

ECE course

– Complete in as little as one year, with tuition fees from approximately AUD 20,000

– Australian undergraduate/postgraduate graduates may be exempt from English requirements

– No prior qualifications or work experience required

– Course includes a practical placement

For details, please contact our support team

Migration information sharing and Q&A group

Step 1: Press and hold to add our support team

Step 2: After adding, please

Attention!Please verify agenuineNewstars consultant!

Study and migration enquiries by region

⇓⇓ Contact our support team ⇓⇓

Sydney

Melbourne

Canberra

Brisbane

Adelaide

Hobart

Beijing

Guangzhou

7、

Scan to follow the Newstars WeChat Official Account

Reply in the WeChat Official Account withany of the following numbers or keywords (not in the comments section below the article),to receive the most up-to-date and professional migration news!Reply 【A】 to view the full directory (including all topics)!

Reply:0000 → View the 16 November policy update (Subclass 491 + skilled migration points)

Reply: 000 → Latest visa/citizenship processing wait times

Reply: 001 → Latest Subclass 189 EOI official report

Reply: 002 → Subclass 189 Skilled Independent migration

Reply: 003 → Subclass 190 state nomination by state

Reply: 004 → Subclass 489 regional area state nomination

Reply: 005 → Student entrepreneur/investor migration

Reply: 006 → Parent migration visa

Reply: 007 → Employer-sponsored visa

Reply: 008 → Subclass 485 visa

Reply: 009 → Partner migration / points bonus

Reply: 010 → Work experience points bonus

Reply: 011 → Professional Year (PY) points bonus

Reply: 012 → NAATI/CCL points bonus

Reply: 013 → Regional area points bonus

Reply: 014 → Tourist/visitor visa

Reply: 015 → Working holiday visa

Reply: 016 → TAFE study abroad

Reply: 017 → Australian international students migrating to Canada

Reply: 018 → Subclass 407 Training visa

Reply: 019 → Subclass 408 Temporary Activity visa

Reply: 020 → New Zealand migration

Subclass 189 invitations issued to accountants and IT professionals! NSW Subclass 491 adds priority pathway!Tapthe ‘Original Link’ for ‘Migration Weekly — Video Edition’

From Microsoft China to Running Childcare Centres in Australia — She Says Teachers Don’t Actually Teach Children

Quick Links

Popular Services

Our Branding Offices

Follow Us