TLC Magazine feature on CORE Education's Early Years team

Core Education

Experience and innovation in teacher professional development.

Education

Core Education have been involved in teacher professional development in both the Early Childhood and Schools sectors for many years. Central to the Core Education philosophy is a strong belief in the power of teachers teaching teachers, and that effective teacher professional development happens over time. Core Education is a not-for profit organisation.

What we do

The Core Early Years facilitator team have wide-ranging experience in teacher professional learning. Over half of the facilitation team were involved in the ECE ICT (Early Childhood Education Information Communication Technology) Professional Learning pilot programme. This involved selected ECE services across the country in three years of professional development focussed on ICT use in daily practice.

At the beginning of this year the team grew with the addition of four facilitators from the University of Canterbury Education Plus professional development team. This ‘new’ team includes experience in a wide range of teacher professional development including Kei Tua o te Pae, Infants and Toddlers, Curriculum design, and self review, to name a few.

The growth of the Core Early Years team means that the profile of early childhood education has been lifted within the organisation. Events run by Core Education, such as the annual ULearn Conference (in Christchurch in October every year) now has keynote speakers, workshops and a pre-conference day that are of interest and relevance to teachers and management in the early childhood education sector. Other events, such as Core Breakfasts, and resources, such as EdTalks also include early childhood relevant topics.

How can our team help you?

The Core Education Early Years team works with management and teachers in a range of early childhood settings across the country.

The Core Education Early Years facilitators specialise in tailoring professional development and mentoring packages to centre requirements. While their preference is to work with centres over time, facilitators can also provide half and full day workshops. The Core Education Early Years website is a good place to go when looking for information about teacher professional development and information about workshops and conferences. The Early Years blog is also worth checking regularly.

Some examples of the mentoring packages and workshops Core facilitators provide are:

• 21st Century Teaching and Learning
• Infants and Toddlers
• Governance and Management
• Curriculum Design
• Fostering Relationships
• ICT in Teaching and Learning Programmes
• Teacher Registration support

All the Core Early Years facilitators are accredited cybersafety educators. As the only facilitator group to have provided this Netsafe training continuously over the last three years, we work closely with Netsafe in designing and presenting professional development. These workshops support management, teachers’ and parents’ understanding of the benefits and challenges inherent in teaching, learning and living in the 21st Century. They cover topics such as digital and cyber safety, social networking and centre policies.

The road to a facilitator’s role

Elaine Newton profiles two of Core Education’s Early Years facilitators, and describes their path to this role. Like many teachers, both took up study after they had children.

Sharon Carlson, Core Early Years facilitator, Hamilton and Waikato region.

Like many teachers, Sharon’s path into teaching was neither linear, nor straightforward. When she left Hawera High School in 1981, she had missed gaining School Certificate by two marks. For the next eight years Sharon worked behind a sewing machine in a factory until she became the full-time mother of two children. As the children started at Kindergarten and then School, Sharon became intrigued by how children learn. Through being ‘mother help’ she found that she enjoyed working in an educational environment with children. When Sharon’s son started school she was soon employed at the same school as a teacher aide working with a child with high educational needs, in the New Entrant class.

When the family moved from Taranaki to the Waikato, Sharon took advantage of the proximity to Waikato University to enrol in their 3-year Bachelor of Teaching degree programme. She felt strongly that the early years of a child’s growth and development were critical to the future of the child and chose to do her training in the early childhood sector.

Her first teaching position was in a kindergarten, where she began to explore ICT as a teaching and learning tool. Her interest and expertise were recognised and valued by the Kindergarten Association. She was invited to run workshops for other teachers in the association’s kindergartens. By her fourth year of teaching she had been appointed to the position of Head Teacher at a kindergarten in Hamilton. During this period the kindergarten participated in an Action Learning project which focussed on ICT in teaching and learning.

In 2006 Core Education appointed Sharon into the role of facilitator, Central North Island region, for the three-year ECE ICT PL (Early Childhood Education Information Communication Technology) pilot project. She worked with ten ECE centres, providing professional development workshops, leadership support and mentoring teachers in their Action Research projects. She supported the centres in writing their research reports and presenting their findings at conferences. Sharon has become not only an expert facilitator using ICT in teaching and learning, but in mentoring teachers, leaders and managers leadership, team building, and curriculum design. She continues to share her passion for children’s learning through the many workshops that she runs and presentations at conferences.

Tara Fagan, Core Education Early Years Facilitator, Wellington Region, Tara had worked as an administrator and legal secretary until she became a mother.

Although she had begun study towards a law degree, she recognised very quickly that law was not a family-friendly profession, and changed study direction to follow the interest in education that had been sparked through her involvement in the Playcentre movement.

She trained part-time as an Early Childhood teacher, with three pre-schoolers at home and the continuing connection with Playcentre. Once she gained her bachelors degree, the natural progression for Tara was to begin study towards her Masters degree, focussing on Children’s Social Interactions. Throughout Tara’s period of study, and in her work as a facilitator, she has maintained her connection with Playcentre, and feels strongly that as a facilitator this connection keeps her grounded in the reality of day-to-day practice.

After graduating with her Masters degree, Tara worked with pre-service teachers, until being appointed to the position of Facilitator, Wellington Region by Core Education, to work with centres in the ECE ICTPL pilot programme.

Like Sharon, she has honed her considerable skills in working with teachers, supporting change, providing professional development workshops, challenging and mentoring, as well as assisting with report writing and presenting findings at conferences. Tara is an accomplished and professional presenter herself. In her role at Core Education she has been involved with mentoring teachers and teacher educators from overseas.

For further information...

• If you would like further information about how CORE Education's Early Years team can help you, contact us
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