Glen Education Orrong Road

Spontaneous Moments of Joy

Vanessa Ashman, Early Childhood Educator

What kind of day have you had at work today? What brought you joy? Perhaps it was an interaction with a child, a kind word or thoughtful gesture from a family, sharing a laugh with a colleague? 

We all have great days, and then occasionally those days where things just don't go right.  We might be dealing with a difficult issue, a headache, health or financial problems, and we just might not be feeling our best. I recently had one of those heavy days.  At lunchtime I shared with the children that I wasn’t having the best day, and asked if they had any advice for me, to help me feel some Joy, and this is what they said:

• Henry suggested I have something to eat. 
• Freddie said I should find someone to play with. 
• Poppy told me I should have a little rest on the couch. 
• Lydia said I could try having a drink of water, or find something or someone to cuddle. 
• Olivia recommended a nice lie down in the sun. 

Teaching children about identifying, managing and expressing their emotions appropriately is an important part of our job as educators, and while it is unrealistic to all expect to be joyful and happy all the time, it is perfectly ok to acknowledge a wide range of emotions, and learn some strategies that we can try to help us feel better. The suggestions from the children reflected some of the strategies we have taught them through the year to help them feel better, help a friend, or cope with a challenging situation, and the kindness and empathy they showed to me was a result of the warmth, trust, respect and strength of the positive relationships we have built together, and the kindness and wisdom of those little people was what helped me have a much more joyful afternoon.  

They say ‘a picture is worth a thousand words, so we only need one word with three letters here – JOY. Here are some joyful moments from our program.

And here are some more comments from our educational team:

Weiyu “Our job as teachers is to create a feeling of belonging and joy so children will love coming to kinder and thrive as responsible learners and good friends. My joy comes from the freedom to express and show my abilities as a teacher to support each child’s needs, and my joy comes from children saying I love you when we have built strong relationships. I enjoy connecting with the occupational therapists who visit the kinder about how we can better support the children. I like to bend down to the child’s level to make them feel secure and jump in with dancing, singing or being boisterous and flamboyant. No day is the same, and I am blessed to work here.” 

Liang: “Personally, JOY is reflected through the strong connections we build with children, their families, and our colleagues at ORK. In this article, it says unlike feelings such as, happiness and excitement, JOY is unexpected. Because of the genuine, supportive and strong relationships we build at ORK, we, as educators, get to experience unexpected JOY from children and their families, for example, I remember, May and I received two bouquets of flowers for ‘International Women’s Day’ from one of the families on a morning as a ‘Thank You’ for our work of supporting their child’s positive and happy experiences at kindergarten. For us, these flowers represent more than just the celebration for ‘Women’s Day’ but the reason why we choose this career and continue doing what we do everyday.

For children, the JOY they experience at kindergarten is something that constantly motivates exploration and curiosity through learning. We all know that children's learning is always shifting and changing even when they engage in the same activities. With different contributors (e.g., people they play with, intentional teaching provided by educators, different learning goals etc.), children get to gain spontaneous learning experiences at kindergarten. These type of experiences give them great sense of achievements and accomplishments, which leads to JOY.”

May: “We sometimes overlook ‘joy’ in our busy life and may feel unmotivated to do something constructive or productive. However, if we start focusing on the small details of our life instead of chasing a big rainbow, we can easily find unpredictable and unlimited joy in our daily life.

I believe “joy” often comes from our positive emotions in response to something unexpected, unpredictable events or happiness in our life. And as an early childhood educator, I always feel grateful being able to find and share “joy” with the children, families and other educators. 

For example, we recently installed a big nest swing in our backyard. When three children hopped on it, I heard one of them said “I’m scared.” The moment I was going to step in and offer the child help, I saw the other child on the swing held the child’s hand and said, “You’re okay. You can hold my hand, so you don’t feel scared or fall.” They held their hands tight and decided to stay on the swing. They smiled to each other and their giggles and laughs spread throughout the backyard. In that moment my heart filled with warm happiness/kindness, genuine joy, and I was so grateful that I was able to witness and share this precious moment of their pure friendship with the families and other educators.”