I did not arrive at early childhood education through a straight path.
My work today is shaped by language, movement, and years of living between cultures.

I grew up with Chinese language and culture as something lived rather than taught. Over time, this deep familiarity with language led me into professional translation, where precision, nuance, and respect for meaning became central to my practice. I learned that how something is explained often matters more than what is explained.

When I later moved into early childhood education, those two worlds came together. I began to see how young children experience culture not through information, but through rhythm, routine, relationships, and repetition. Culture, I realised, is not something we present to children — it is something they feel, notice, and slowly make sense of within safe and predictable environments.

Living and working in Australia has profoundly shaped this understanding. In Australian early learning settings, I came to value the importance of routine, consistency, and the quiet moments of connection that happen throughout the day. I also saw how easily cultural intentions can become performative if they are not grounded in genuine understanding. This awareness continues to guide my work.

As both an educator and a parent raising children in a bilingual, multicultural environment, I am constantly reminded of how identity forms in subtle ways — through the words children hear, the stories they are told, and the way their background is acknowledged or overlooked. These experiences have deepened my commitment to inclusion that is thoughtful, calm, and sustained over time.