Nurturing future generations
An interest in shaping young lives led Ms Lee Ann to pursue early childhood education at JCU
By Jolene Limuco
Feb 26, 2020
While babysitting her nephews a couple of years ago, Ms Lee Ann noticed their rapid cognitive, physical and behavioural development, and was intrigued by the progress they made.
“It made me realise that young children absorb information like sponges, so we should improve the effectiveness of their holistic education and pay more attention than we currently do on early childhood education,” she says.
This led her to consider becoming an early childhood educator so that she can play a part in shaping the development of children.
She says: “I strongly believe in the importance of shaping and educating young children holistically, as they will become the future leaders of our world. Education is much more than just learning about literacy and numeracy, it is also about instilling moral values and the right learning attitudes in young children.”
After completing her A levels last year, the National Junior College alumna enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) programme at the Singapore campus of James Cook University (JCU).
Ms Lee chose JCU because it is one of the few universities in Singapore that offers an undergraduate programme in early childhood education. She was also drawn to the fact that the lecturers at the internationally recognised private education institution were based in the Singapore campus, which saves time and makes it convenient for her to complete her studies locally.
In addition, the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) programme that she is keen on is fully accredited by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, and graduates of the programme will be eligible to apply for teacher registration in Australia. This opens up the possibility of her working in Australia in the future, she says.
So far, the first-year student has learnt various theories on how children acquire language at different stages, as well as educational psychology where she learnt about the importance of children’s motivation.
She has also picked up methods on educating and caring for young children, and particularly enjoys interacting with her lecturers and classmates in small groups which she finds more fruitful.
