The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted for many of us the incredible contribution of our early childhood educators. We learned just how critical their work is to a functioning society, not only allowing parents to work and vital community services to continue to operate but also educating our youngest community members and ensuring them a good start in life.
September 4 is Early Childhood Educator Day, a day that recognises the work of our early childhood educators. To mark the day, we sat down with LiveBetter’s Head of Childhood Education and Development, Jenny Nalder.
Jenny has worked for LiveBetter for nearly 27 years, and in that time has seen the organisation go through significant change. She has seen what began as a small, Orange-based community organisation employing only a handful of staff, grow into a large, regional community services provider, employing over 1200 staff across regional New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
What hasn’t changed over the years is Jenny’s passion for her work, her belief in the critical importance of early education, and her respect and admiration for the people she has worked alongside over the years.
Early years
Born and bred in Orange, for Jenny, childcare was not her first choice of career.
“I never thought I’d go into childcare. It wasn’t even on my radar. I loved sewing, and what I wanted to do was to teach Fashion Design at TAFE.”
After leaving school, Jenny studied Fashion Technology at TAFE. She then moved to Sydney to attend Randwick Fashion School, but after the eligibility requirements for TAFE Fashion Design teachers changed, Jenny was forced to reconsider her options and decided to return to Orange and attend Secretarial College.
It was while working as a Community Development Officer for Orange City Council that Jenny first considered a career in early education. At the time, she was working out of Elsham House in Glenroi, a suburb of Orange that sees significant rates of disadvantage. Jenny was running parent education groups and would often be called upon to provide childcare while parents participated in the groups. For Jenny, childcare was something completely new.
This was where she wanted to be.
Jenny returned to TAFE to complete her Diploma in Early Childhood Services and began working at Spring Street Long Day Care Centre. As her passion for early education grew, Jenny went on to complete her Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching, successfully balancing her studies with full-time work and three small children. This was no mean feat, and one she acknowledges may not have been possible without the help of a supportive husband.
Jenny went on to become the teacher and Director at Spring Street Long Day Care Centre where she worked for ten years.
LiveBetter
It was nearly 27 years ago that Jenny first saw the ad for an educator to deliver a new special needs early education program for a small community services organisation.
Jenny didn’t apply the first time the role was advertised. She didn’t think she was ready, but when she saw the role advertised again, she applied and was successful.
The early education program was called the Specific Needs Brokerage Service and went on to run for ten years, becoming a state-wide program after four. The small organisation was called Orange Community Resource Organisation (OCRO) and is now known as LiveBetter.
‘It was a really small team. Everybody knew each other. It was very social. We were all involved in everything that was happening.”
This was another fork in the road for Jenny, who knew that if she was going to do well in the role, she would need to undertake further study. Jenny returned to university to complete her Bachelor of Education, specialising in Special Education. Once again, she was balancing work, family and study responsibilities. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.
On LiveBetter Preschools
“When we first began establishing the preschools, our primary focus was to address disadvantage. We wanted to establish preschools in areas where there was a desperate need. In some communities, the majority of children starting Kindergarten had never been to an early childhood service. We wanted to meet this need.”
Jenny is proud of what she has achieved at LiveBetter.
“Everything in LiveBetter’s Child & Family Division has been grown from scratch – and I’ve had a fingerprint in that. To start something from scratch, from something that doesn’t even exist and take it to be operational and beyond. I think that’s a big achievement and I’m proud of that.”
Early Childhood Educator Day
“Early childhood educators are dealing with children at the most critical time of their learning and development and I don’t think our society recognises that. They see early childhood educators as babysitters. I would like to see that change.”
“There is so much research out there about brain development, and how the first seven years are the most important time in a child’s life. It’s the time when we get to mould their little brains. To get all those neurons attached.”
“I think that COVID changed the landscape for us. We were essential workers, we had to be there during what was a very challenging time, but the focus was primarily on nurses, police, and paramedics. Many educators didn’t want to get vaccinated. They left the sector and never came back. And now there aren’t many people training to be early childhood educators. This is a real concern. If there are no early childhood educators, what’s going to happen to our workforce?”
Quick questions:
What is the best thing about your work?
“The people around me, our ability to be autonomous, and the fact that we do make a difference.”
What is the most challenging thing about your work?
“Having enough staff to operate, and the level of regulation.”
“ Bad operators make it difficult for all of us as with every mishap, and every mistake, the level of regulation increases.”
Top tip to manage work-life balance?
“Don’t take work home. That took me a while to learn, but remember it will always be there the next day. Have interests outside of work. Work can’t be all-consuming. At the end of the day, we need to be able to disconnect and do other things.”
What keeps you going, getting up and doing it all again, each day?
“I enjoy what I do, and I work in such a nice environment that I look forward to coming to work. I have a lot of variety. I still get to spend some time on the preschool floor, and I really enjoy that.”
Hopes for the future.
“I hope that quality Early Education becomes available for all families and that our Early Educators are recognised and paid appropriately for their efforts.”
If there was one piece of advice you could give to others who are starting in the community sector, what would it be?
“To do more listening than talking. All families have strengths, and it’s up to us to find them. Don’t give up on families and children. You never know, you might be the person that changes their lives. You may not realise it at the time, but you could be part of a ripple effect. It might all start with you, what you say, and what you do.”
