Jeff Pringle

ECE teacher

It wasn’t until Jeff’s son first attended kindergarten that he realised there were other career options besides his current labouring job.

“I used to help at kindergarten most Mondays and really enjoyed working with the children,” Jeff remembers.  “The response I got from the kids was great and seeing them change and develop made me want to pursue a career in early childhood teaching.”

With huge support from his wife and friends, Jeff soon tackled the serious study required to train as an early childhood teacher. “I wasn’t very good at school and left after two years so I found teacher education hard,” Jeff recalls.  However by studying a foundation course first and then getting loads of support from everyone around him, Jeff completed four years of study and is hugely satisfied at the result.

Now in his first year teaching at an early childhood centre, Jeff is enjoying the rewards of the job although there are some challenging moments.  “I’m still learning strategies to deal with some of the children’s behaviour and with my colleagues’ help, am able to try new ways of dealing with difficult situations.”

Although Jeff has taken a drop in salary, he maintains that he now has a chance to better himself career wise.  “The satisfaction I get from this job more than makes up for the drop in salary.  The positive reaction from parents seeing a male teacher around also helps.  They like seeing this big bloke picking kids up on their shoulders and swinging them around.”