Narmin Pirani was finishing her bachelor's degree in sociology
when she took a job in a hospital child care centre to
help pay her bills. That's where she found her true calling.
"I
discovered that I loved working with little kids. It
came naturally to me, and I knew it was the kind of job
that I'd
look forward to every day," she remembers.
Narmin knew she'd
need training if she wanted to get serious. When she looked at the options,
George Brown College's Early Childhood
Education program interested her right away, particularly
the seven weeks of in-class followed by the seven weeks of co-op.
"The courses at George Brown sounded more academic compared
to the other ECE programs I was considering, but the main
thing that appealed (to me) was the amount of field placement," says
Narmin. "We
learned how to handle every possible situation in the classroom,
but then when you have to use that information for real,
you discover all the things
that can't be taught in a book. There's no better way to
learn. "
Narmin
credits her teachers for their personal investment in her
success. "The
teachers at GBC are fabulous. After spending time at university
where teachers don't even know your name, it
was refreshing to be able to just knock on their doors
and talk to them if I had a question," she explains. "They
really want you to succeed, and the whole ECE program is
so supportive. Everyone helps
each other out."
Narmin especially liked how the in-depth nature
of the field placements allowed her to develop her own
teaching style. Because one of the most important parts
of teaching young children is being able
to communicate to parents and caregivers how their child
is progressing, she decided she would start taking pictures
of students throughout their
whole day and put them on a CD so that parents could visually
experience their child's school life.
After taking part in the program's
Jamaica Exchange Project where she had the chance to travel to Negril
to work with local teachers and
children, Narmin found that she returned to Toronto with
even more passion for teaching.
"Even though they only had natural resources like rocks
and leaves to learn with, the children there had so much
enthusiasm - it
taught me not to take anything for granted, and to really
make the most of all the tools I have access to here."
Narmin
is now using her education and resources to the fullest
at the North Toronto Early Years Learning Centre,
where she has just started work as an after-school and
preschool teacher. "I have
my own preschool class now. I'm teaching kids 18 months to two-and-half
years, and it's really satisfying to help them with their first
learning," she says. "Thanks to George Brown I've learned
to think on my feet, and teaching toddlers, that's where I am most
of the time!"
Read more stories from George Brown
Graduates...
To learn more, visit the George
Brown College Alumni page. |
PROGRAMS AND COURSES 
