Claudine is a lecturer for Melbourne Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Education - Early Years. Prior to this, Claudine worked in a diverse range of early childhood contexts including long day care, sessional kindergarten and with relief teaching agencies. These different contexts provided Claudine with valuable experiences as an educator working with children, families and colleagues and as a Network Coordinator responsible for liaising with and supporting staff across five local kindergartens. Claudine draws on her dual role as an educator and a PhD student to inspire students to become lifelong learners. This includes critically engaging with diverse resources and experiences and recognising that we are surrounded by teachable moments.
Claudine has been a team member in Melbourne Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Education - Early Years program since 2011. In this time, she has worked with students across the four years of the degree as a lecturer, subject coordinator, year level coordinator and placement supervisor. Claudine believes establishing and maintaining relationships that are meaningful and respectful are critical in teaching. It is through these relationships that a sense of belonging can be nurtured and a community of learners created. Claudine is passionate about engaging students in critical reflection that encourages them to explore who they are, what motivates them and how this is relevant to their teaching practices. This provides students with the capacity to work collaboratively with diverse children, families and colleagues when they graduate.
Claudine completed a Bachelor of Science at La Trobe University in 1993. Following this she did a postgraduate certificate in Aquatic and Terrestrial Environmental Management at Adelaide University. In 1999 she completed a Cambridge ESL teaching course and spent the first 6 months of 2000 teaching English in Istanbul. When she returned to Australia, Claudine undertook a Postgraduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education at RMIT University. In 2014 Claudine completed her Masters of Education (by research) at Melbourne University. Currently she is a PhD candidate at Melbourne University. Claudine's diverse range of qualifications reflects her passionate curiosity and belief in lifelong learning. Recent career highlights include being invited to present at the annual RECE conference in Ireland (2016) and Copenhagen (2018).