Thérèse is a graduate from the MSc Child & Youth Care Studies programme at the University of Strathclyde
Tell us a little bit about your background...
I was born in France, more precisely in Chamonix, a ski resort famous amongst skiers and alpinists for its high mountains. I grew up in a council estate, both my parents were Italian immigrants. They arrived in France at the age of 18 with no qualifications and no knowledge of the French language. I was raised bilingual and have very happy memories of life at home and on the estate with large green spaces where I used to play with the other kids in the block and a snowy Mont-Blanc as a backdrop.
I moved to Germany in early 2000, excited at the opportunity to learn a new language and experience a different culture. I took a career break and enjoyed my role as a mother at home. As the kids started school, I got involved in the parents’ representative group, working closely with teachers and management. It was then that I joined the after-school childcare setting. This move was to mark a significant turn in my career as it reasserted my interest and enjoyment of working with children and young people. I worked with a team of like-minded colleagues. Most of them had joined with no previous qualifications in childcare, pedagogy, or child psychology, but had many years of experience of working with children and were very appreciated by all the major stakeholders. I remember listening to content in the first module of the course with Mark Smith talking about the concept of practice wisdom. He explained how he believed so much valuable knowledge, acquired through intuitive practice and experience, exists within each practitioner and the need to tap into it to advance the CYC field. This statement took on particular meaning for me as I could really identify with it.
What was the best part of your job?
Germany has a history of outdoor learning with forest schools. Our childcare settings adopted this concept of spending time outdoors as much as possible, regardless of the weather conditions. We followed the principles of social pedagogy focusing on the child as a whole person and sharing the same life space with a non-hierarchical approach. We tried to support the child’s overall development, not only academic but intellectual, through encouraging curiosity and contact with nature, and physical with a wide range of outdoor activities. A relationship-centered practice was at the heart of our work with children.
Overall, the best part of my job was really the time I spent with the children outdoors. Due to the design of the school grounds and its privileged surroundings being close to a forest and a lake, we were able to capitalize on this. This meant that we could undertake many excursions outside the school boundaries. For example, there was a big hill just outside the school grounds that had been built with reclaimed land from the housing development nearby. In the winter, we used to take the children sledging. We had so much fun. Building snowmen and igloos were an absolute highlight and while having so much fun outdoors, we were doing our job, the children were learning and developing!
What has been the most memorable moment of your career, so far?
I don’t really have one particular moment but recurrent events which, when they occur, make my career memorable. For example, seeing how the children grow and develop over the course of the four years spent with us always made my work so meaningful and worthwhile. Hearing parents explaining how their child looks forward to going to school every day because of the after-school club or seeing children arrive with open arms and a smile as they see us was equally gratifying and rewarding. Finally, many of them, as they leave primary school to go onto further education, made time to come back and visit us, looking taller and more mature, and enjoyed reminiscing the good times and checking what changed and what stayed, reiterating how meaningful the experience was for them. For us practitioners, these moments were always very special!
Why did you decide to study Child & Youth Care Studies?
After working for over eight years in an after-school childcare setting in Munich, I had gained much experience and achieved a good level of professional expertise. I felt the time had come to develop and acquire theoretical knowledge that could inform my practice further. I decided to check Strathclyde where I had studied in the past and found this course which I felt was a really good fit with what I was looking for. I felt privileged when I got in.
What was the highlight of your course?
For me, it is difficult to focus on one particular section of the course. Generally, I found the course very empowering. As I worked my way through the six modules, so many of the concepts explored made sense and were easily absorbed as I could connect them with so many practical situations experienced in my setting. I felt empowered in the way that the course made me realize how much knowledge I had acquired through practice over the years. Authors such as Fulcher on cultural competence, Garfat on meaning-making or Jack on place attachment, had a profound impact on my understanding of care and relational practice. The course also helped me recognize how much my practice was influenced by my childhood experience which shaped my values and beliefs. This really helped me to remain more open to and inclusive of other ways of doing and being, themselves shaped by different and equally valid experiences.
Furthermore, I particularly benefited from the weekly live sessions with the rest of the cohort. It was a very eclectic and diverse group, both from a professional as well as a cultural point of view. I found sharing views in debates over some of the issues relating to Child and Youth Care and sharing experiences with my classmates very enriching.
What key learning/skills did you take from the course?
The course has raised my awareness of certain concepts such as meaning-making, cultural competence, and the purposeful use of daily life events. These were concepts which I put into practice daily but more instinctively than consciously and purposefully. Raising awareness of those concepts and actively seeking opportunities to apply them with the full knowledge of their impact on the child as opposed to having an opportunistic approach informed by intuition renders my practice more powerful and effective.
From an academic point of view, I developed my writing skills and learned new ones in relation to research. My writing style became more structured and with a logical sequencing. This is a skill I developed over the course of three years, first with the dissertation assignments and then with the research project. The research method module became particularly relevant for me as I wanted to continue into research.
What advice would you give to someone considering studying your course?
My background and experience in Child and Youth Care is based on educational settings. All the concepts explored in each module can be applied to any situation connected to care for children and young people. In this respect, regardless of background or experience, the course material provides plenty of opportunities to connect fully or partly with some of the concepts explored in the six modules. From this point of view, I found the course very versatile.
Taking the step of embarking on a master’s degree can be very daunting at first. However, the lecturing staff is great! … friendly, approachable, knowledgeable. When I look back at my journey over the three years of the CYC part-time course and see what I have achieved … I have developed into a more confident and informed professional, which is beneficial for the children I aim to serve, with ambitions I could only dream of at the start of the course, which is good on a personal level. So, I would say go for it! …and don’t hesitate! This is a game-changer!
Where are you working now?
End of 2021, I moved to Singapore with my husband on a short-term delegation of 5 years. I am using this opportunity to immerse myself in yet another culture and new ways of living and being. I have worked on school-based interventions with a Charity organization supporting children and young people in Singapore. I am also still in contact with the after-school childcare setting in Munich. Following graduation, I am dedicating time now to apply for a PhD, selecting topics of research which I feel passionate about.
What are your ambitions for the future?
Advocating for the healthy development of children and young people and supporting their wellbeing has become my endeavour over the course of the last ten years of my career. Seeing how rewarding the care profession is can only act as a motivating factor. The course has given me the tools to progress to the next level of my career. After working very closely with children and stakeholders, which I so enjoyed, I would like to exert more influence at the decision-making level as well as influence political and social discourses. I know … that’s a tall order!! I feel one way of achieving my goal is to join the research community. The course has highlighted the important role experienced practitioners can play in advancing empirical research. This is a role I now wish to fully embrace.
Any final points or words of wisdom?
I believe working with children and young people is one of the most rewarding jobs around. It is also an important role as we aim to contribute to the healthy and positive development of future generations to come. In my experience, it was often the simplest events that had the biggest impact on the day of the children we cared for. A genuine smile, splashing in puddles on a rainy day or eating an ice cream on a hot summer’s afternoon can be enough to lighten the day and bring some happiness!
Our work as childcare practitioners contribute to providing positive experiences and to see teenagers coming back to our setting to pay a quick visit, say hello and immerse themselves in a happy past, out of a nostalgic impulse, bares testimony of the importance and impact of our work.
And finally – I started the course in my late 50s, a testament to the fact that age is NOT and should NEVER be a barrier to further education.