Teacher Tuesday : Mrs Fiona White

This week we spoke to Mrs Fiona White who hails from the West Coast of Ireland. A qualified teacher with Master of Arts in Education (University of London) and a Bachelor Degree in Science Education (University of Dublin) Mrs White currently teaches in Foundation 2 (Early Years Foundation Stage).

This is your first time teaching in Sabah, Malaysia. How are you finding it?

I’m really enjoying teaching and living in Sabah. I’ve yet to explore all that Sabah has to offer but so far, I am loving the beaches, snorkelling and the tropical climate. At home, everyone’s wrapped up in their winter woollies so it’s lovely to have the chance to experience year round sunshine! The sunsets and sunrises in Sabah really are spectacular.

How many years have you been teaching in Early Years? 

I qualified as a teacher in Ireland in 2004 and since then most of my teaching experience has been in early years and key stage one.

What gives you fulfilment and motivation as a teacher? 

I think the fulfilment and motivation comes from the many different aspects of your job as a teacher/facilitator of learning, being able to inspire curiosity, wonder and a love for learning; seeing the learning journey your students are on and the progression they make throughout the year. Being part of the magic that is play and seeing the learning that occurs through play experiences in the classroom is special. 

The EYFS Curriculum of KIS actively develops a sense of awe and wonder and a love of learning in every child through a mix of planned and purposeful play. Tell us which areas/ topics do you enjoy teaching the most and why? 

Our Early Years classroom is set up so that within our learning landscape, the children have the opportunity to explore all of the areas of learning within the Development Matters curriculum. It’s so hard to pick a favourite area of learning but at the moment our role play area, junk art station and message centre are the most popular areas with the children but this changes depending on the theme that we are exploring. One of my favourite subjects to teach in early years, is maths. Children love maths when it’s meaningful and applicable to their own life experiences. This week, we are exploring capacity which a lot of fun.

Leading educators, academics and teachers are sounding the alarm over the impact excessive screen time is having on children’s reading, writing and ability to concentrate in school. In your opinion, what can parents do from a young age to nurture responsible digital citizens? 

Unfortunately nobody truly knows the impact that excessive screen time is having on this generation of children. There has never been a generation of children born into such a digitally saturated era where screens are replacing the time that children once had for playing, both inside and especially outside. How this will effect children in the long term remains to be seen but what we do know is how critical open ended play is for a child’s learning and development and that screen time shouldn’t be depriving children of this important part of their childhood. In our house, we set daily limits for screen time and that includes Mr White on his phone!! As parents, we also have to show children that we are able to disconnect from our screens and that we can be fully present to talk or play with our children without always prioritising our screens. That isn’t always easy to do. Hopefully children nowadays will have a far greater understanding of what it means to be a responsible digital citizen than we had, and will use that to better the world.

If you could meet a famous person, who would you meet and why?

Truthfully I don’t get too excited about most famous people but the people that amaze me the most are people who are trying to make difference in raising awareness and looking for solutions for the climate crisis. We all need to make concerted efforts to reduce our impact on the environment and do what we can to protect natural habitats. I have been super impressed over the last while by Greta Thunberg who has been advocating for more to be done to protect our planet. Greta is a wonderful example of how young people can have the power to have their voices and opinions heard and make a difference. 

Tell us something that is little known about you? 

I came to visit Kota Kinabalu about 15 years ago on a holiday when I was living in South Korea. I loved it then and was delighted to return to live here.