What I think Teachers in ECE and the Teaching Sector Really Want...

As many of you know, I’ve had the absolute privilege of working in early childhood education for a number of years now. And the truth is — I still love it.

I love being part of a team. I enjoy connecting with parents and whānau. And most importantly, I still feel incredibly honoured to teach and learn alongside children across the 0–5 age group.

But let’s be real for a moment.

The landscape of ECE — and teaching in general — has changed. It’s not the same as it once was.

We’ve become the wearers of many hats.

And some of those hats? They don’t fit. They don’t suit us. And they’re not the ones we thought we’d be wearing when we chose this profession.

I’m not really a hat person — I’ve got too much hair and they never sit properly anyway. But when it comes to teaching, those “imaginary hats” have gone from a few… to many.

We are:

Colleagues.

Leaders.

Managers.

Mentors.

Support workers.

Parent educators.

Whānau support people.

Advocates.

Friends.

Comforters.

Protectors.

Negotiators.

Sometimes even the stand-in GP or infectious disease responder.

And yes — cleaners and cooks too.

The hats are many.

And if I’m honest, the “pants” we wear these days need to be just as strong — big, sturdy, hard-wearing — ready to catch all the stuff that comes our way in a day.

So what does this have to do with what teachers actually want?

Everything.

Because despite all of this — the expectations, the roles, the responsibilities, the constant change — what teachers want is actually very simple.

After years of study, professional learning, on-the-job experience, working in collaborative teams, and implementing ongoing initiatives...

We just want to teach.

We want time.

Real time.

Not five-minute snippets here and there.

Not rushed interactions in between everything else.

We want meaningful, uninterrupted time to sit alongside children.

To be intentional. To notice, recognise, and respond — just as we are guided to do within Te Whāriki.

We want children to have the space to focus. To engage deeply in their learning without the noise and chaos that can sometimes sit in the background of our environments.

We want to support children to:

• Grow socially and emotionally

• Build relationships

• Reach their milestones and learning goals

• Become confident, capable learners

We want to know that when children leave our care at the end of the day:

They learnt something.

They achieved something.

They felt good about something.

And that we, as teachers, played a small — but meaningful — part in that.

That’s it.

That’s what I want when I’m teaching.

And I’m pretty sure I speak for many in our teaching sector when I say —we don’t want more layers, more hats, or more complexity.

We just want the space, the time, and the trust…to do what we trained to do.

Teach.