Part 1: Australia Permanent Residence (885) via Child Care Co-ordinator

There has been many changes to the Skilled Migration Programme to Australia of late, in wake of the recent Economy Recession that has hit Australia. The government has already placed a cap on the 2008-2009 General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program.

However, this does not affect the Migration Occupation In Demand List (MODL), or Skilled Occupation List (SOL), where Child-Care Coordinator is among one of the occupations in demand to be eligible for application for migration to Australia. As a disclaimer, this entry is written based on my previous personal experience in the process of my application for migration to Australia.

If you are researching/Google-ing for information on making an application for migration to Australia, take this entry with a pinch of salt, and make your own informed research to what is best suitable for your case.

When I completed my tertiary studies at the end of semester 3- 2007, it had hit me that there was much uncertainty of what my next step would be.To get some breathing space, I decided to head over to Down Under's nearest & dearest neighbouring country, New Zealand. I had promised my nieces years before, that I would go and visit them. What more a better time to go than then...

Fast backwards to three years ago.... 2006.

When I first enrolled to complete my (Bachelor. Early Childhood) B.ECH at University of Southern Queensland on-site in Toowoomba, it was only for one year with a total of about 6 units of courses left till completion. At the same time, I was waiting for the results of my International Montessori Diploma to be ready.

To provide some information to the uninitiated, the B.ECH is a three year degree teacher training programme only found in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is also otherwise known as Bachelor of Teaching in New South Wales. The general rule-of-the-thumb now is should the degree take three years to complete, it by law normally does not allow the holder to be qualified to be registered for employment in public schools around Australia. This rule stands among the different states in Australia, although the qualification might be known under a different title or name in each state.

Halfway through the year, I decided to change my enrolment to the (Bachelor. Education) B.ED which is a four-year program.Anyways, to cut the story short, at the end of my fourth year (where I was doing the lot of extra 3rd year units to complete the programme) I decided to revert back to my original programme, which was a B.ECH (a 3 year program). The reasons to my exit was that it was out of my control to be able to complete my practicum on time in order to graduate.

During the period of my time of studies, in order to obtain a legal student visa to complete our studies, students must have units of studies which contributes to the accumulation of credit in order to extend the duration of the student visa. However the teaching practicums did not fall under that category, and did not have any credit value to it. Teaching practicums however, needed to be completed before the student could graduate with the degree however.

However, halfway through the final year I realised I had problems with my practicum.....

What happened to Chea-Yee's practicum at university? Find out in the next instalment of this exciting drama of "WHAT HAPPENED TO CHEA-YEE'S TEACHING PRACTICUM". ^^

Social Play: Observing Children's Behaviours Through Dramatic Play.

Dramatic Play is among one of the important activities that is normally written into the daily preschool program across the different types of early childhood learning institutions in Australia. It helps children to learn social and language skills as well as develop their abilities to get along with their peers.

Therefore it is important that the teacher in the classroom should be trained to write out age appropriate activities on a daily basis, as it is too required by law for documentation purposes.

The following extracts are taken from Beaty, J (1994) Observing Development of the Young Child, Delmar, New York pp.116, 124-30. Her book has proven useful especially for trainee teachers undertaking observations, or those in need of aid on observations of children in the many different learning areas.

Gains Access to Ongoing Play in Positive Manner.
Access Rituals: These are maneuvers that children use to gain access to play that is already in progress.

Children who successfully gain access to enter ongoing play in a positive manner use among the follow strategies:
a) Observing the group to see what is going on
b) Adopting the group's frame of reference
c) Contributing something relevant to the play
d) Asking again if they are denied access
(LeBlanc, 1989, p.30)

Maintains Role in Ongoing Play in Positive Manner
Developing the skill to enter ongoing play is ont the end of social skill development for the preschool child, but only the beginning. The child must also be able to continue playing with the other.
They must be able to:
1. Carry on a conversation.
2. Main eye contact when speaking.
3. Listen to and watch other speakers.
4. Adjust own conversation content in order to be understood
(Smith, 1982, pp 135-136).

Yet being successful at group daramatic play helps young children to ractice and learn the social skills necessary to be sucessful in life. Some of the social skills children can learn through group dramatic play include:
1. Adjusting their actions to the requirements of their role and the group.
2. Being tolerant of others and their needs.
3. Not always expecting to have their own way.
4. Making appropriate responses to others.
5. Helping others and receiving help from them.

Resolves Play Conflicts in Positive Manner.
During group play, major conflicts often focus on
1. roles
2. direction of play
3. turns
4. toys

Rather than focusing on the negative behaviours during conflicts, spend some time observing how certain children are able to settle their disputes positively. We can learn a great deal from children if we are willing to.

Children who are successful in resolving play conflicts in a positive manner often use strategies such as
1. Ignoring the demand.
2. Distracting using other things that they forget about the conflict/demand.
3. Reasoning.
4. Negotiating a Compromise.
5. Co-operating
6. Compromising a demand