Want to work with us?

Congratulations! You’ve secured a position with us at ECMS. We’ve been impressed with who you are as a person, why you want to work with us and what you’re keen to bring to this teaching role. Now it’s time for you to think about how you’re going to embody that in your practice.

If this is your first role, there’ll be a lot on your mind before you start. The sense of ‘not knowing what you don’t know’ can be daunting, but remember, you got this job for a good reason, and there’s much you know already.

ECMS Head of Pedagogy Emma Forsyth emphasises the benefits of drawing on what you know:

“To set yourself up for success as a beginning teacher, it’s about taking what you’ve learned in your studies, as well as your life experiences, and thinking about how it translates into practice. We’re looking to see you pull those common threads between what you’ve experienced and implemented on your placements and what you’ve been learning at university, into your learning environment.

“To set yourself up, you still have to be really clear on why you’ve become a teacher in the first place. That ‘why’ embodies who you are and how you teach. The understanding of self matters most. When we really understand ourselves, we can be unpacking our possible biases, the ways and whys we do things and how we might further critically reflect on our practice.”

Emma recalls a telling moment from her days as a beginning teacher interviewing for a position:

“The best question I was ever asked in a job interview was: If I was to walk into your learning environment, what would I see?

“If you haven’t thought about what that looks like, then there’s an opportunity to get clear on how you’re linking the theory and practices you’ve learned about and then what that looks like in action.”

At ECMS, we are anchored in relational pedagogy, meeting children and families ‘where they are’. This means:

• Working in relationship, together

• Being respectful and responsive to the needs that are showing up 

• Curiosity and staying curious that little bit longer 

• A program that each child and family can see and feel themselves in

• Where place and local context shine 

• Warmth, delight and joy in the magic of childhood 

• Celebrations of moments in time that matter 

Emma tells us that meeting children and families ‘where they are’ is not only about relationships, it’s a pedagogical practice that impacts all that we do.

With this in mind, in your new teaching role, there will be lots of exploring what the pedagogy of that place is, and what are the ways of doing and being that are specific to that place. Some pieces may align with your thinking and others might require deeper exploration, thinking and reflection.

“You have to be comfortable enough to give things a go, and be flexible and adaptable.”

ECMS People Team Talent Manager Louise Moxom talks about quality teaching and how it relates to your values:

“Teaching is responsive and relational, so it matters who you are and how much you know yourself, why you do the things you do, and what you value. The emphasis is on purpose.”

In the first part of this ‘Why you want to work with us’ series we talked about your job interview and the importance of demonstrating your purpose and how you as a person connected with it. Thinking about your purpose helped you succeed in your interview, and it will help you every day in your new role.

When you take the time to know who you are and why you’ve entered the teaching profession, your teaching journey will be anchored in purpose, supporting your pedagogical decision making, providing a clear vision for what this looks like in practice – which is an exciting and transformative place to be!

If we were to walk into your learning environment, what should we see? Someone who is really connected to their purpose, and brings that connection, every day, into their practice.