EYITT and Postgraduate Certificate in Leading Early Years Practice graduate goes on to complete an MA Education.
MA Education.
I started working at the Hive library in 2012, as a library customer adviser. This was a different career path for me as I had spent many years working in the adult disability support field. I enjoyed everything about the job, getting to know all aspects of the library from stock work to public engagement.
I found myself enjoying and becoming more involved in working in the Children’s library, especially with children from two ends of the childhood spectrum – under 5’s and teenagers. Delivering interactive story sessions for young children was my favourite role, often resulting in quite a lot of noise which is completely opposite to the usual library perception. However, it was when working alongside partner agencies, such as children centre staff, to deliver early years services within the library that I started to think about a career which focussed on this very area and so I began looking at ways to do just that.
I had a growing family of my own and so many options for career change were not viable. Then, at the start of 2017, I saw the Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) course in the University of Worcester’s prospectus. Everything about the course fitted with my ideals and my family life and so I applied. Eight months later, I started the course.
Excitement mixed with a heavy dose of Imposter syndrome were my feelings in the first few months of the course. Everyone else seemed to have much more knowledge of the subject, both practical and academic. But gradually, I was able to link my own work and personal experiences to the subject and I became more immersed in the study of this sector. I loved my placements, working with children to understand the world is one of the greatest joys. But I also enjoyed the reading and research that came with studying and it was this that I continued to do.
With the support of the wonderful lecturers who worked so closely with those of us studying on the EYITT course, I graduated as an Early Years Teacher in 2018. I returned to working in the library, putting my newly-acquired knowledge to use in this important community setting. But I continued to study in my spare time. I had studied the Postgraduate Certificate in Leading Early Years Practice alongside the EYITT qualification and decided that I would carry on to complete the Masters programme.
I was hoping to have completed the MA in a few years but like for many people, the pandemic tore up those plans. Home-teaching, disrupted work shifts, and multiple covid infections resulting in long covid symptoms did not make for the most conducive study or research conditions! But this year, I finally completed my dissertation and obtained my MA in Education.
I have enjoyed a little break from study but I now hope to go on further with my writing focusing on the experiences of young children, perhaps even to pursue a career within academia. But I still might have to return to the library to deliver a story time or two!