Learning and growing are a part of life, regardless of age. The early childhood sector strongly focuses on professional development for teams and individuals. As well, Petit Early Learning Journey recognises that personal development and individual employee growth matter.
We often refer to children when discussing personal development within our sector. However, as an employer, we equally value our people’s interests, beliefs, wellbeing and self-development.
Personal development goals are the cornerstone of unlocking creativity and building a more positive attitude. It can drive enthusiasm and motivate all of us individually to learn and grow.
We believe in supporting and celebrating employee growth as well as individual interests. In this article, we look at:
- The relationship between professional and personal development
- How Petit ELJ supports personal development
- Personal development examples and success stories from our incredible people
The relationship between professional and personal development
โProfessional development relates to our roles and our professional identity or brand,โ says Petit ELJโs People and Culture Operations Manager Melissa Hart. โDeveloping and growing as a profession is often through gaining experience or building your technical knowledge and skills.โ
โPersonal development is about our growth. Personal development starts from a place of self-awareness and vulnerability, which means we are focused on becoming better people within ourselves and our family and community circles.โ
โPersonal development is often required to build and grow as an individual before focusing on our professional development. We need to know who we are before we can focus on what we want to be when we grow up.โ
โPersonal development sets a solid foundation for us to grow and become our best selves.โ
How Petit ELJ supports personal development
โProfessional development is supported through our career pathways such as our excellence scholarships and our partnerships with industry-leading professionals.โ
โFrom a personal growth perspective, nothing is more revealing or engaging when learning about yourself than working with young children. Seeing ourselves through this innocent and open lens can really help us see ourselves differently.โ
โAt Petit ELJ, we have adopted a wellbeing and personal development focus for the first half of the year. This is brought to life by our partnership with The Phoenix Cups and our plan to understand how we fill our personal cups (meet what we need) and how to fill the cups of our colleagues and children.โ
โIn addition to these sessions, our teams will have access to coaching and support from The Phoenix Cups team and in June we will be undertaking our 28-day well-being challenge where we will be focused on how we fill our cups as a team.โ
โIn the second half of the year, we will partner with Dr Kayleen Henderson to help us focus on our professional development with the whole organisation tapping into her mini-masterclass series to grow as professionals.โ
โFinally our teams have access to various services through Acacia EAP (such as counselling and management support) and our wellbeing platform on Perkbox. Most importantly we are a closely connected team at Petit ELJ. We share feedback openly and have access to people who can help us grow personally and as professionals.โ
Personal development examples and success stories
Meet Educational Leader Bao Huynh from Petit ELJ Burleighย
โPetit ELJ has supported my personal development by recognising my achievement and contribution to the team with the Belong, Being, Becoming award in 2022,โ says Bao.
โThe constructive and nurturing culture at Petit ELJ affords me the opportunities to use my strengths, take the initiatives to help my peers and continue learning. This has helped me grow and develop the confidence to commit to further study to pursue my dream.โ
โThis year, Petit ELJ has helped me identify my goal of work-home balance. I am further supported with a flexible work arrangement to achieve a quality of life while studying and working.โ
Meet Acting Assistant Centre Director and Educational Leader Letitia Da Silva from Petit ELJ Marian
โWorking at Petit ELJ Marian for the past 6 years has been a big factor in my personal development, not only in my workplace but outside of work,โ says Letitia.
โI have grown in so many areas. I have learnt to be confident in the decisions that I make and know that my opinion is heard. I have learnt that communication is so important in life, at work and home, and from this, I have built genuine friendships within my social life and work life.โ
โBeing a part of the Petit ELJ community has made me more self-aware of who I am as a person and it has taught me to listen and understand that everyone is different and all opinions and views are valid.โ
โWith the skills that I have attained over the years, I have been able to step up into positions where I can utilise these tools that I have learnt and mentor or offer advice to fellow educators and families.โ
โI have learnt that time management is essential not only at work but in my home life. Setting challenges for myself has given me a different outlook on what I can achieve. I have learnt that if you put time and effort into things that are important to you, you will see results.โ
Meet Educator Hannah Sanders from Petit ELJ Pimpama
Hannah recently changed her hours to work full-time over 4 days to combine study and work.
โI have not been with Petit ELJ for long, but Petit ELJ has supported my personal growth by always checking in and asking how I am settling into my new environment,โ says Hannah.
โI can come to both Hayley and Georgie when I have concerns in my personal life. I can be vulnerable to them so I can be the best version of myself while projecting that onto the children and families that I encounter in my room and around the centre.โ
โI put in a lot of self-work outside of Petit ELJ, which involves affirmations, meditating and journalling. I am involving these practices with my children as I believe how we speak about ourselves goes hand in hand with how we speak and treat others.โ
โI am currently studying towards my Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Petit ELJ has been nothing short of amazing when I have questions when something arises.โ
Meet Lead Educator Emma Watkins at Petit ELJ Elderslie
โPetit ELJ has supported me over the last couple of months by providing me with feedback, supporting me and physically showing me what needs to be done within my new role,โ says Emma.
โI recently became Lead Educator for Burrows Lane studio. I stepped into this role right before we were told we would have our Assessment and Rating, and it became a little overwhelming. However, with the support from not our Educational Leader, Assistant Centre Director and Centre Director, I was able to get through all that needed to be done.โ
โI was also given feedback from families not long after the move and the feedback I received was all praise.โ
Celebrate YOU with Petit Early Learning Journey
At Petit ELJ we really value our people. We recognise that just like our families and children, our teams are made up of individuals who come from all walks of life with diverse backgrounds, cultural perspectives, and a wide range of qualifications and experiences.
We deeply respect our teams’ devotion and commitment to early childhood education and care and their contribution to building a welcoming and supportive team culture where professional development and personal growth are encouraged.
Make a difference in your life and the lives of children every day.
