My Passion in Early Childhood Education



When I was a child, growing up in Calcutta (India) my best friend was a little girl of the same age from my neighborhood. I had no knowledge that she was from a very poor family (later on I found out that her mother supported the family for her little income as a house cleaner in four house in the neighborhood). Frankly, I did not care. We would play hide and sick, just run around trees singing songs that we did not know the words to, or throw little pebbles in the pond next to my house. I did not care that her clothes were dirty and torn up….we had so much fun! Then I lost touch with her. Several years passed by. I graduated from high schools and started attending a college. One day I was walking home from college. I saw a woman with a little girl in her arm coming towards me with a big smile. She asked me “Do you recognize me?” I said “of course”. (Actually, I had no idea--she did not look or dress likes anyone in my friends or family circle.) She kept on saying how proud she was of me. To carry on small talk, I told her “I am proud of you too”. She started laughing loudly “How can you be proud of me? I am just a maid with no education and a little girl to support on the top of that.” By the time I realized who she was, she had disappeared in the crowd. I started thinking---how can I break this cycle of poverty? How can I stop this little girl from following her mother’s footsteps?

The answer was right there: “education”. A passion was born—childhood education is where it all begins.

Many years have passed in between. Unfortunately, my passion had to a back seat while I was raising my own little girl. My passion took a back seat but never left my life. I kept on preparing myself for delving into the profession of early childhood education. My resolution is stronger than ever.

Today as an early childhood educator I am the true believe of the word passion. Today I am exploring my career as an educator of early childhood education from where I never shift my career to somewhere else. In a word, my passion is not a risk taking (Hagel 2009) or multiple (Melamed 2005). I build my career based on my passion, which is a real contribution in my life.

After taking the decision whether my passion goes towards the real world of early childhood education that is my long-term goal; I asked myself and explored in that field. Because working with the children need patience, dedication and sensivity. In addition, today I am working from last nine years, which is very enjoyable and rewarding to me.