All About Me

My name is Megan Housden and I am 34 years old. I currently live in Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast hinterland with my two beautiful children; Lily, nine and Bailey, seven. In 2009 I decided to start my Certificate III in Education Support and began volunteering my time at a Catholic primary school in Mount Isa where I lived at the time. From the first day I stepped foot in a prep cl;assroom I knew that was where I wanted to be. Over the course of the next two years I did both voluntary work as part of my studies and relief work across all primary years. In 2011 I was lucky enough to obtain a full time prep teacher aide job and enjoyed every moment I was at school with vibrant children beginning their education and working with a very supportive and close professional teaching team. Part way through 2012 I began looking into the future and where I saw myself going from there, which is when I decided to develop my education knowledge further and applied to James Cook University to study a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood externally. My studies have taken me into years 1, 2 and Prep, which has reaffirmed that the lower years is where my passion lies. The children that I have been fortunate enough to teach have taught me so much and I have appreciated the full support my supervising teachers have given me. During each year of my studies I have maintained my relationships with my students and teachers through weekly visits. The experiences that I have left with have helped me develop into the person I am today and shaped me into the best teacher I can be for my students.

Why Do I Want to be a Teacher in the Early Years?

The early years education setting is where children begin their journey through school and where they build the foundations for life long learning. Completing my studies at the time I have has enabled me to support my own children as they have gone through these year levels and I have seen the amazing work that their teachers have done in fostering a love of learning. Being a teacher to me means being a facilitator to connect children to the key learning areas within the National Curriculum. I am there to provide fun, engaging and relevant learning opportunities that allow them to achieve accademic success. Teaching is not just lessons and textbooks, it is also using the spontinaety of the day to use teachable moments to enhance student learning. It is in the early years that I am able to strongly advocate my belief in play based learning. When I am planning I think to myself "Would I want to learn about this in these ways?" if my answer is no then I put myself in my students shoes and think "How would I like to learn this?". The early years also provides me with unique opportunities to develop a students sense of belonging, allowing them to feel accepted, develop attachments and trust myself as someone that cares for their social, emotional and accademic wellbeing. My passion for teaching is further ignited by early childhood as it reminds me that every child has the right to be a child and experience the joy of childhood.