To celebrate the day, we spoke to Lisa Brennan, an early childhood educator at Spotted Frog Kindergarten in NSW.
Spotted Frog is this year's national winner of the Little Scientists Early STEM Education Awards for their 12-week project 'Can colours mix without actually mixing?'.
Hear from Lisa about her rewarding experience as an early childhood educator.
What inspired you to become an early childhood educator?
My inspiration to become an early childhood educator really began with my mum. She was a teacher and also ran Family Day Care from our home while I was growing up.
I wouldn't say that I grew up with a burning ambition to become an educator myself. It was more that early childhood had always been part of my world. When it came time to choose a career, teaching felt like a natural path for me to follow.
The longer I have worked with young children, the more fascinated I have become by the way they think, question, investigate and make sense of their world. More than three decades later, it is that curiosity - both theirs and my own - that continues to inspire me.
Lisa Brennan, early childhood educator at Spotted Frog
What has been your most memorable moment as an educator?
It is almost impossible to choose just one memorable moment because so many of mine are woven into the more than 30 years I have spent at Spotted Frog.
Spotted Frog has become so much more than the place where I work - it feels like home. My own children were once preschoolers here alongside me and now I find myself teaching children whose parents I taught when they were young.
Over the years there have been awards and achievements that I am enormously proud of. When I look back though, it is the relationships that stand out most - with children, families and fellow educators.
What's one practical tip you would share with other early childhood educators?
Never lose your own sense of wonder. Be willing to get messy, be silly, dress up, laugh, experiment and genuinely play alongside children. Ask questions with them rather than feeling you always need to know the answer. Some of the most meaningful learning happens when an educator is curious enough to say, 'I wonder what would happen if we tried this?'
Surround yourself with people who inspire that curiosity in you too. As my career has evolved, I have also discovered how rewarding it is to become that person for someone else.
My advice would be to find the people who make you a better educator, be that person for others and no matter how many years you've been teaching, stay young at heart and curious.
