LITTLE KIDS NEED MORE TEACHERS
ALMOST 10,000 extra early childhood teachers are expected to be needed in Australia by the end of the decade.
Employment department figures project the November, 2015 workforce of 36,400 will increase to 46,200 by November, 2020 – more than twice the employment level of 10 years earlier (20,400).
While more than a third of early childhood teachers have a vocational qualification (29.9 per cent with a diploma or advanced diploma, 9 per cent with a certificate III or IV), most have a bachelor degree (45.2 per cent).
About one in 10 (11.9 per cent) have also completed postgraduate studies.
Griffith University graduate Mindy Nelson studied a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Child and Family Studies and now works as program team leader at The Creche and Kindergarten’s Family Place in Logan.
“This type of work really interests me, although I didn’t always plan to do community work,” she says.
“When I first decided to go to university, I wanted to be a teacher.
“I decided to enrol in the double degree and found that I enjoyed the social science courses the most.
“I really enjoy working with people and seeing positive outcomes for families.”
She says she wouldn’t have her position if not for the industry placement component of her degree at Griffith. “If anything, I think there should be more opportunities for placements,” she says. “The more experience you can get to regularly apply your knowledge the better.”
Griffith has a new range of initiatives designed to help students kickstart their careers, including access to an e-mentoring program and Unitemps, which provides paid work opportunities for students.