I am an British trained Early Years Teacher, based internationally, currently Poland. Although trained in the Primary National Curriculum for England, my passion has always been Early Years. I discovered this early in my career, teaching Early Years in Egypt for two years.
I have one daughter and she, alongside my need to get to grips with a totally different pedagogy, inspired me to complete a Masters in Childhood Studies and Early Years. This course was inspiring and involved an Action Research project where I put my theory into practice by building my own Early Years business in Vietnam. Here I educated both parents and children in the value of play as the most important vehicle for learning in the Early Years. I learnt a great deal on the importance of interactions with both children and their parents.
Upon completing the course I was awarded a distinction and it was wonderful to receive this award at the Leeds Beckett Masters ceremony with my daughter watching on. Currently, I teach am in my sixth year teaching Reception in an international school. My husband also teaches within Primary (Key Stage 2).
I am a keen writer and authored a book, a guide for aspiring international teachers. My passion is the ‘lived stories’ of others, but I have also been investigating my own, within auto-ethnography. I presented at the 2021 Autoethnography Conference which retold my experiences as a trainee teacher. I have been commissioned to lead on international teaching for the National College as well as EAL in Early Years for Across Cultures. Further, I will present and write for Kinderly this year. My work has been recorded in two of Tamsin Grimmer’s books, as case studies for loving practice.
I continue to lead my radio show for Teacherhug Radio, which focuses on telling the stories of international teachers and leaders around the world.
I am also a passionate supporter of those in education. In 2021, I set up #WomenEdTw (WomenEd Taiwan). With the support of two others, I organise networking and support events for women in education. My aim is to give others the confidence and support to apply for roles outside of their comfort zone.
New to International Teaching with Jess Gosling 