Camden Haven’s Naomi Hiltunen is one of ten aspiring childcare professionals about to embark on a 10-day study tour of Vietnam.
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The trip is organised through TAFE NSW as part of Certificate IV in Education Support. Naomi is studying at the Wauchope campus.
The group is set to leave the Port Macquarie-Hastings on Thursday October 19 for the ‘learning experience of a lifetime’.
Naomi described the study tour as ‘exciting’.
“I’ve had a countdown on my phone since I found out about the tour six months ago,” she said.
“It is very exciting. While the study tour is jam-packed – we don’t finish one night until 10pm – I think being able to experience a different culture with children in their own school environment will be one of the highlights.
“It is going to be amazing. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Naomi said she wants to learn how to interact with children from a different culture and plans to bring those skills back to her career in early childhood education.
The tour is funded largely by a Commonwealth Government’s Endeavour Mobility grant, enables the students to work in special needs childcare or teach English in schools in Ho Chi Minh City.
It is going to be amazing. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
- Naomi Hiltunen
Head Teacher of Early Childhood and Education, Gayle Beddoe, is accompanying the students and said that the study tour would provide a learning experience that could not be delivered in the classroom or on the Mid North Coast.
“Students will be exposed to cultural diversity and hands-on experience with special needs children from a very different socio-economic background. The experience will build on their employability, because of enhanced skills like flexibility, resourcefulness and resilience,” Ms Beddoe said.
Education Support student, Lisa Horrigan, who works as a trainee Teacher’s Aide at St Columba Anglican School in Port Macquarie, said the study tour would round out her educational experience.
“It will be a ‘grounding experience’ that I suspect will open my eyes to education systems that have limited resources with people who have a different worldview of learning. I haven’t travelled much, so I’m curious to see what I’ll be able to contribute towards making a difference to the learning environment,” Mrs Horrigan said.
The students range from campus-based or distance learners to trainees and existing workers and are studying the Diploma of Early Childhood or the Certificate IV in Education Support.
