WHAT IS A DOULA?

So, what is this doula thing that so many pregnant women speak of? The word ‘doula’ — pronounced ‘doo-la’ — is a Greek word meaning ‘woman servant or caregiver’.

More recently, it refers to someone who offers emotional and physical support to a woman and her partner before, during and after childbirth.

A doula (also known as a birth attendant) believes in ‘mothering the mother’. She enables a woman and her partner to have the most satisfying birth experience possible, from pregnancy and into motherhood. This type of support allows the whole family to relax and enjoy the experience too.

A doula provides  supportive care during pregnancy, labor, and shortly after during the postpartum period.  The support comes in two forms: physical and emotional.  

The second important role of a doula is to provide childbirth education in order to empower the Mother into making the best choices for herself as well as her newborn. All of this is done in a non-judgemental, supportive way.

Basically, a doula is bring the 'village' back to childbirth and childrearing. Women, supporting women. 

WHY JARVIS IS NOT GOING TO KINDY

Back to school has well, and truly, happened for thousands and thousands of children across Australia. With many starting  a new journey with High School, Year One, Prep and Kindy. But not Jarvis. It took me most of 2015 to feel 100% confident with my decision not to send him off to Kindy this year.

Jarvis, is a happy, confident, and very sociable child. I was at first worried that I was not allowing him access to a wider social circle. But, now the year has started, and I feel I have made the best decision for Jarvis, and for Justin and I as parents.

My belief has always been that we , as a country, over school our children. And yes, this is coming from me, who has a background in early childhood education. I could quote many studies from my thesis, backing my belief that we are pressuring our children into too much study too early and not allowing them enough time for play. However, I think the most important thing is my mother’s instinct. I honestly believe Jarvis was not ready.

He was not ready to be torn away from childhood, and pushed into formal education. I say formal, as even my doctor believes Jarvis is very advanced for his age. I believe thirteen years, (plus often add another four or more years at uni) is a really long time for children to be in formal education.

This is my belief for my child, well children. 

I am in a really privileged place to have the choice whether or not to send Jarvis to school. I am aware in some countries children do not get this choice. I also have had the luxury of more than ten years of tertiary education myself. Something which I hope Jarvis also has the choice. But for now Jarvis has one more year of being a carefree toddler/child.

EDUCATING WOMEN: THE GIRL EFFECT

The thing I have learnt most in having my two children is that no two are alike, from pregnancy, to birth, through to the child. I was blessed to be born in a country that even when I was a single mother struggling financial I was wealthier and better off than many other women in this world.

I now know that knowledge is power, and the more knowledge I have as a woman, the more powerful I am. Studies have shown that half of the reduction in child deaths in the last 20 years is the result of increases in mothers' general level of education. 4 million children are alive today because their mothers got an education.

Give a girl, a woman, a mother the correct information and sanction her to use it, and she can work miracles in the most difficult of situations.

Technology is on our side, and on the side of all uneducated girls and women. Where schools and governments and often families have failed to educate girls and women, the mobile phone, the Internet, the radio and the television can step in. As a blogger I think most take this technology for granted, not realising how lucky we are. What I wanted to do with my series on Education was to get people to stop and take a moment to think about education.

Hop over to http://www.girleffect.org/ and have a read. Show your support by liking their Facebook page and signing the petition. 

Today the Girl Effect is driven by hundreds of thousands of supporters who believe in the potential of 250 million adolescent girls living in poverty. Girleffect.org exists to help this community continue to make a powerful case for supporting girls, by equipping them to do the best work with and for girls.

WHY GIRLS?

One study has shown that an educated girl will invest 10-20 times more income back into her family and community than a man would. Girls who receive an education marry at an older age, have fewer children, and are more likely to seek healthcare for themselves and their children. Even so, nearly 250 million adolescent girls live in poverty. Today, fewer than two cents of every international development dollar goes to girls – the very people who have the capacity to make an impact on ending poverty. As long as girls remain invisible, the world misses out on a tremendous opportunity for change.

Better lives for girls mean better lives for everyone in their communities - their brothers, fathers, future husbands and sons. When you improve a girl’s life through education, health, safety and opportunity, these changes have a positive ripple effect. As an educated mother, an active, productive citizen and a prepared employee, she is the most influential force in her community to break the cycle of poverty.

Please note: Images are not mine they have been taken off The Girl Effect Website. 

EDUCATION GUEST POST KRYSTA FROM: A Fairytale Comes Alive.

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Krystallina, Krysta, from Fairytale Comes Alive. Kyrsa is from Greece and is raising her gorgeous son Nereus as ethically and as healthily as possible. I love hearing what other women from different parts of the world have to say in regards to education. Make sure you pop over to Kyrsta's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

First of all I want to thank Julie for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion about such an important matter.

I would like to begin with my story. As a child I hated school. I had average grades (mostly because teachers liked me for some reason –maybe because I was quiet).  I had no interest for most classes and teachers, so I was never paying attention in the classroom. Therefore, homework was a huge mountain to climb. And I had no intention to. I was not uninterested for my family’s judgement though, and so I was getting very anxious to be good at something that really didn’t interested me at all. Right before my teenage years, I began having terrible migraines. After a couple of years I suspected that stress might be the problem, so I decided to never care about grades (and other things too but that’s another story) again. Guess what? I rarely have migraines now!

Arts, psychology, English and writing were the classes that I really enjoyed (although there were so little of it and most of the times the teachers seemed to be so bored and ‘teaching’ basic stuff was all they were doing). With the high grades of my favourite classes, I was managing to pass the others, until 16. Then in the middle of the school year I decided to stop attending classes. And something totally unexpected happened. A teacher of mine, called me on my cellphone (I still have no idea where he found it) and told me “You should finish school. Not because it has something to teach you. Everything you have to know, you have already learned it from somewhere else. You just have to finish it so you’ll have the paper. If you don’t many doors will close to you. Krysta there are only two talented kids in this classroom and you’re one of them. Don’t go away from this road.” I was shocked. It was the first time someone has seen things from another point of view. Not exactly my point of view, but he motivated me anyway. I was ready to go back to school. But then, I couldn’t. I had so many things to see so many things to do. And school was keeping me back.

That very night, I took a backpack with a few stuff and left my house.  The years that followed were the most wild and furious years of my life. I travelled (inside my own country) a lot, met so many beautiful people, read so many amazing books, had lots of drugs, did a few different jobs (but most of the time I was not working), gave away all of my super expensive shoes and clothes and kept only the ones I really needed in an effort to get rid of my emotional attachment to materials and did a bunch of other experiments too that made me the person I am today.

All the things I have learnt from this full life I’ve been living, are my education. All these other experiences like yoga, theatre, juggling, kids games, face painting, dancing, cooking, sewing define me too. The biggest thing, the one that changed me the most…the best thing I’ve ever done is of course becoming a mother!  But guess what? None of them I learnt in school!

Now, and even though, I have “no proper” education and just like my teacher said many doors have closed to me, I have an amazing job that fills me with joy and happiness. And even at that hard times it pays relatively well. I’m very satisfied with the conditions in my life. I keep trying new things, making mistakes, listening to my inner voice (and other people voices too) and this is how I learn. People keep asking me if I’m planning to go back to school. “No” I say. “I don’t have time for school…there are so many things I have to learn!”

Now, we all know, that the educational system needs changes. It’s very sad but I can’t find even one reason that our kids should be going to school. And I can’t stop worrying about the fact that my little one should go to school too one day. Do you think I’m over reacting? Please, I would really like to read your thoughts!        

Please Note: Images and words are Kyrsta's unless otherwise indicated      

EDUCATION GUEST POST SASH FROM: Inked in Colour

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Sash from Inked in Colour. Storytelling fulfils the need for human beings to cast their experiences in narrative form. Our ancestors probably gathered around the evening fires and expressed their fears, their beliefs and their heroism through oral narratives. Sash is a traveller who tells her stories to us, through her blog. Instead of a camp fire we all sit around our computers, gathered to hear her tales. Myself, like many others, can relate to her tales of travel. Her tales of motherhood, and single motherhood. Plus her tales of leaving a better foot print on our planet. Make sure you pop over to Sash's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

I grew up in an upper middle class family. I went to a good private primary school and I had all of the educational opportunities that a doctor’s daughter might expect. Until of course my parent’s marriage broke up. Then I was flicked from school to school for a while and in the meantime I began to form the most important skill that I have since mastered in my adult life... the ability to be flexible. The ability to embrace change.
I am blessed, I get good grades without trying very hard. School was never difficult for me. But school is not the only form of education that counts. It is the foundation of skills one needs to go to university (which I’ve done, multiple times), it is the basics one needs so that they can read and write and count and push themselves. It’s essential and it’s undeniably criminal that so many women in the world are not afforded this right. The right to learn.

Basic education is a human right. There is no doubt about that. It’s very important to me that I am able to give my daughter the best education that I can, in the situation we are in. And that goes so much further than just school and university. It’s about the choices I make that shape our lives. It’s about the higher education I can offer her now, as a toddler, and then as a child and a teenager and one day as an adult. The higher education that has nothing to do with BA’s or MA’s or PHD’s (though I have already worked my own way through two of those already). But there is a much higher education that I want to provide to my daughter, an education that brings with it compassion and mindfulness and generosity. An education that encourages respect and self realisation, an education that brings with it power and love and sometimes pain... the education that comes from experience. The education that comes from never being afraid to live a great and adventurous life.

You will always learn more from doing than you ever will from standing still.
You can learn every word in a book by heart but if you have never seen real love or had your heart broken or stood in a field in a foreign country or ridden a motorbike or laughed at the wind or held the hand of someone who is dying or challenged your own beliefs. Have you truly lived?

It’s a question I ask myself every day. I ask myself and then I throw myself into the wind and I try something new. I put my hear t on the line and it gets broken. I trust and I get betrayed. I love and I get loved. I play and I laugh. I win and I lose and I lose and I get back up and I go again. And again. Because I’m alive. Because I’m fighting for something more than “just this,” because that’s what I want for me. And it’s what I want for my child. And it’s what I want for the world.

And it’s a question that is, unfortunately, only for the privileged. Because the large percentage of the population of the world does not have the privilege of asking ‘have i truly lived’ because they are still asking ‘how will I continue living?’

I think one of the most uneducated and insulting things we as human beings can do is to take our privilege for granted. To get hung up on grades and salaries and career s without a second thought to those people who have none of what we have. While we sit around and moan about our thighs and our hair and our skin and we spend money on things that are inconsequential and we worry about things that don’t matter, there are people out there who are happy with nothing. I’ve seen them. I’ve lived along side them in little villages on the edge of the earth. I’ve worked with them to harvest rice fields and to build houses and to grow food and to eat food. I’ve sat with them in mud huts and laughed with these people, the less privileged as they tell jokes in languages I don’t understand and hold my hand and hug me when I leave. I watch as they love their children and they work for food not for power or greed or recognition or fame.
The best education I have ever had in my life has not come from all of the essays I have written or the academics I have listened to or the presentations I have given. It hasn’t come from the late nights forming convincing arguments or referencing correctly or stressing over deadlines. It hasn’t come from journals or text books or lectures. I have learned a lot from all of this, sure, but it has never and will never be the best education I will receive.

The best education I have ever had in my life has come from people. From people all around the world. I’ve learned absolute joy from strangers and compassion from children. I’ve learned to appreciate my life and my privilege by living side by side in life with those who come from a different world. I’ve learned acceptance from those who have been ostracized and I’ve learned true strength from those who are considered weak. I’ve learned love from having my heart broken.

The more you learn the more you realise you know nothing. The more you travel the more you realise you haven’t seen anything at all. The m ore you experience the less you care about material possessions and the more you care about people.
Because let’s face it. At the end of the day... people are the only thing that matter. The rest? It’s just broken discarded plastic.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Please Note: Images and words are Sash's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST ERICA FROM: Expatria Baby

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Erica from Expatria Baby. I stumbled across Erica's blog via the 52 Series, Stella's hair grabbed my attention (oh how I love a redhead child), however, it was Erica's writing style the got me hooked. Erica always makes me feel as if  we are chatting in the same room. Make sure you pop over to Erica's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love. 

Our little nomadic family is currently based in a gigantic South East Asian metropolis where educational choices abound. There’s a long list of private schools that my daughter could attend, each following a different national curriculum, guided by a unique educational philosophy, and using different languages of instruction.

Come August next year, I could send my girl to one of the very best school in all of South East Asia.  And I could do this for free.

But I’m not going to.

Instead, my girl will continue to attend a small Montessori-ish kindergarten where she currently attends preschool. It is not, by any means, the best school in the city. She won’t get the very best education there. She won’t have access to interactive whiteboards or instructional iPads. She won’t be taught by expat teachers with advanced degrees.

But my daughter likes her little school. She’s comfortable there. It’s close to home. She’s learning well, and thriving, even. And most importantly, she’s made it clear that she does not want to change schools. So, she won’t.

When I bring up this educational choice with many of my peers, I get a lot of pushback. People tell me I’m making the wrong decision for my girl. The tell me her future is at stake. That she won’t be ready for first grade. That by denying her this educational opportunity, I’m risking her potential for success.

But that’s not the way I see it. 

I got a pretty good, traditional education. I studied hard throughout high school. I graduated somewhere in the top of my class.  I went to one of the best universities in Canada and got a degree in the Humanities. I studied Latin, read the classics, and wrote long, thoughtful papers. I worked hard. I learned, made mistakes, I grew, and I got better at being a human.

Nevertheless, I have not achieved great success, at least according to the standard definition.  Instead of the fancy briefcase and high-flying career I always imagined for myself, I have a battered suitcase, and a pretty good collection of air miles.

Instead of taking the corporate road, I travelled. I experienced life on four contents, and lived in eight different countries. I married a man I love and followed him across the world. Along the way I’ve cobbled together a “career” of sorts in restaurants, in property management, in education and training management, in social media. Now I raise my girl, look after our home and occasionally write freelance.

And yet, to me, this imperfect, under-achieving life IS a success. I’m living according to my own terms. I work when I want to. I take breaks when I want to. I read books, I cook good meals, I do yoga, I grow, I help my girl to grow, too. And, best of all, I get to spend afternoons with my girl, soaking up the tropical light by the pool.

My husband, by contrast, has achieved enormous professional success. He has a good job, a great reputation, and is on track to a high-achieving corporate position. And his education? Well, he attended a one-room schoolhouse in the Swiss countryside, and then left formal schooling when he was just 15 years old. 

Certainly I value a good education. I invested in one myself! But I don’t think, necessarily, that education is the sole determinant of future success. And pre-kindergarten as predictor of success for a child that already has all the advantages she could ask for? I mean, can we all cool it with the pressure a little bit?

When I think about my hopes and dreams for my daughter, when I imagine her as a flourishing adult, I don’t have a particular set of financial calculations that I use to assign as markers of success. I don’t have any ambitions regarding her career choice, or area of study. I don’t even, necessarily, have aspirations for her to attend university. I’d like her to figure that out on her own. I want my daughter to decide if she wants to sit in a laboratory analysing micro-organisms or if she’d rather be in a workshop, fashioning beautiful objects with her own hands.

What I want, most of all, is for her to find a place in life that feels right. I want her to fell contentment and fulfilment. I want her to build the kind of life that fits her values, and allows her to spend time doing what she loves. And I most certainly do not believe that the school at which she attends kindergarten will help her get any closer to that goal.

So, next year, my girl will go to the same good-enough preschool. She’ll have the same teachers, in the same environment, and follow the same routine. She’ll be happy with that. And so will I.

Please Note: Images and words are Erica's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST ASHLEY FROM: The Stork and the Beanstalk

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Ashley from The Stork and the Beanstalk. Not only is Ashley an amazing Mumma to two gorgeous boys, she is a talented photographer. I can spend hours just looking at her stunning images. Make sure you pop over to Ashley's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

Hey guys. I'm Ashley and I write over on The Stork & The Beanstalk. Special thanks to Julie for having me today and much love to all the women out there. 

When my husband and I first started dating, his cousin was just a young boy. So young that he used to color me pictures, presenting them with big red cheeks and a shy smile. He's starting college this year and despite my desire to think of him with those big rosy cheeks and crayon colored picture in hand, he's beginning the path to adulthood. And with adulthood comes that daunting question of what to do with your life.

Deciding what to do with my life always felt like more of a burden and less of a freedom. I didn't come from a family that pushed their expectations on me and, at times, I wish I would have (although now I can clearly see that leaving it up to me was absolutely the best direction they could have given me. Pushing their expectations on me would have been grossly detrimental). 

I spent much of my college days floating about.

I remember the conversation I had with my dad when I told him I wanted to major in Humanities. You could hear the unsung worry in his voice as he cautiously asked, "what are you going to do with that degree?". I commend my parents now for always using open ended questions when dealing with my still-maturing brain. Asking what I was going to do with a degree in Humanities placed the responsibility back on myself and was much more helpful than hearing, "there's not much you can do with a degree in Humanities". 

I earned my bachelors degree in Humanities from San Francisco State University. And as soon as I graduated, the worry as to what I'd do with it was mine, and mine alone. And with that diploma in hand, that worry became real. 

I spent the next year really and truly just being young; making mistakes, pretending to be an adult, trying to support myself. I signed up for some photography classes at San Francisco City College (I had taken a photojournalism class at SF State my senior year that made me want to change my major entirely). I spent those days in the dark room, developing film, and trying not to get parking tickets.

I worked as a gymnastics coach.

Every now and again, I'd come back to that daunting question of what to do with my life. And when it hurt my brain too much, I'd find something new to keep me busy.

I spent some time in France and worked as an au-pair for an amazing family; A family I still keep in touch with and even visited a few years back in London.

I travelled. A lot. Thailand, India, Malta, Morocco, Egypt, Singapore, Guatemala. A road trip to Louisiana and back.

And somewhere in it all, I decided more than anything I wanted to be a mom. And thus, I became a nurse (because hello three shifts a week). And now, I'm 32 and I have the best of all the little pieces... A humbled beginning, a loving husband and two beautiful boys, a career in nursing, a photography business, and memories that remind me constantly that life is not always best planned out or dictated by others. I celebrate often that my life is my own. 

The story is long, much longer than I'm sure you care to read about here, but the message is short: The journey is the destination. All these little pieces of the puzzle have made me who I am. Each step off the path was not a deviation, but instead a part of what is now the whole. 

I have no advice for others. Rather, I trust that we all find our own way and on our own terms. Autonomy is a beautiful thing.

Please Note: Images and words are Ashley's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST MARIANNE FROM: Esme and the Laneway

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Marianne from Esme and the Laneway. The lovely Marianne and I share a love of vintage, oh if only to spend one day in her wardrobe! I would be in vintage heaven. Marianne also gives some great advise on her blog about wearing and owning vintage clothing. Make sure you pop over to Marianne's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

I didn’t get to know my grandmother all that well but I’m glad I had the chance to know her at least a little bit.

Born in England, she moved to South Africa in her twenties, returning to the UK in her sixties when I was about 8 or 9. I think she lived with us for a while but I can’t really remember; perhaps she just stayed with us for a week or two or perhaps it was longer. It’s all a bit hazy and quite a long time ago.

And while I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her, I did see our similarities. She had dainty hands and feet and was a foot model in her younger years. I, too, have small(ish) feet, and while I’ve neither posed nor pointed these tiny tootsies for the camera and have no pressing desire to do so, I am more than comfortable to expose my peds to the world – no small feat (ha!) in a world where we are so often shy of such apparently straightforward things. But there’s no foot shame here! They say things skip a generation and hey, I’ll take it!

But moving from one country to a very different one after growing used to a certain lifestyle for almost a whole lifetime is not easy. Adjusting to a new home and a new set of circumstances – and, from what would be a very old memory, the cold weather! – is a big deal and my grandmother seemingly just... dealt with it. In a practical, no-nonsense way, she simply got on with it. Of course, being a child means you aren’t privy to a lot of things and there would have been good times and bad times, but there was an overall attitude she radiated of just getting on with it.

There could have been a hundred things she could have taught me, but she gave me a most important lesson: play the hand you’re dealt.

I don’t have any photographs of her, but I like to think of her and thank her for setting such a good example and being a strong, female role model in my formative years. And, well, yes, for the neat feet, too!

Image sourced by Marianne off pinterest

Please Note: Images and words are Marianne's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST SARAH FROM: Love love, lady

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Sarah from Love love, lady. What first attracted me to Sar's blog was her honest and her open heart. Make sure you pop over to Sar's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

I am blessed to live in a country, which allows me the honour of a quality education no matter my gender, cultural background or social status. An education I have freely accepted, and often taken for granted (apologies to my ninth and tenth grade teachers!). I have had the freedom to choose a specialty education; immersing myself in a creative arts degree tailored to my desire to produce and perform. Yet it is the ‘life education’ I have experienced which has moulded and formed my being the most.

Now, before I ramble on too much, I feel I should fill you in on a little of my background:

Much of my life thus far has been influenced by my Christian upbringing - I lived a quiet and ‘normal’, God-led childhood in a middle class family, with my father, mother and two younger sisters. I received a combination of public and private school education, and (voluntarily) attended a local community church throughout my teenage years.

I should add that although I was firmly indoctrinated in this Christian upbringing, I was most definitely the black sheep amongst the flock, and it was obvious from a young age - always curious, outspoken and embarrassingly inquisitive of all I was taught.

The reason I speak of my ‘good Christian-girl’ upbringing is that many, including my biological family, perceive my lifestyle now to be a contradiction of that education. I’m not going to delve much into it, other than to say that, I live harmoniously in my spiritual and lifestyle choices. I am happily gleefully committed to a lovely woman who enriches my days through sharing her knowledge and passions with little ol’ me.

I believe being kind, loving and humble are honourable attributes in a person, no matter their past, present or future. I believe we are all deserving of equal education opportunities.

Through years of toil in formal education I have finally discovered that I learn by ‘doing’. I need to hear, see and feel for my mind to fully absorb and process.

Much of the knowledge I have gained has been via life experiences - getting my hands dirty, my heart broken...and pieced back together again, and my mind awakened by all that this incredible world contains. I have lived in and through famine, homelessness and intense depression. I have been blessed with the companionship and friendship of many beautiful souls, and I have experienced the physical and emotional loss of too many of those relationships. I have experienced the satisfaction of providing for myself and my family through honest, hard work. Most of all, I have loved and been loved, unconditionally. It’s because of these life experiences that I am, well, me.

We live in a world of immense experiences - all offering up equally vast opportunities for education. I will never cease learning from those around me, and I am excited for the day that I have the opportunity to pass my knowledge onto my own young. To create and shape a life through my own experiences will be my greatest achievement, I’m sure.

It’s an honour to gain knowledge from one another - to educate and be educated is what makes us human - it unites us.

* My many thanks to Julie for inviting me into your beautiful space and for the opportunity to share my voice on a topic close to our hearts. Sar xx

Please Note: Images and words are Sarah's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST STEPH FROM: this brown wren

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Steph. How do I begin to describe just how lovely Steph, and her blog, this brown wren, are? From her dreamy imagery, intertwined with the poetry of her words, Steph weaves a special magic through her world, which she shares so beautifully with us.  Make sure you pop over to Stephs's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

I look down at the little toy clothes line beside me and smile at the “smalls” hanging neatly in a row. The fabric smoothed and taut with two pegs either side letting the breeze do its job.  From a sunny spot perched on the side of the sandpit she has watched me do this very same chore every day for as long as she has been.  My hands have moved rhythmically from basket to line like fingers along black and white keys and she has absorbed their every movement.  Words have never been spoken but the teaching was always there.  Like a shadow she mimics my ways.

I have threaded needles more times than I can remember and quietly demonstrated the up and down motion of embroidery. Tangles and tears, tediousness and triumph. My own task set down almost indefinitely as my attention shifts to her tiny fingers and their developing nimbleness. My time is all she asks of me. She is eager to learn.

She starts “big school” next year and although my heart will break with the longing for her I am heartened by the new delicious slices of this world she will see.  She will encounter patient souls who will reform her pencil grip time and time again, will gently remind her that ‘i’ comes before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ and will give their time and energy freely. I hope she will be blessed with a year five teacher called Mrs. King who will tell her that she can be anything she wants to be…..perhaps a writer? And a Madame Simons who will ignite a passion of the French language and let her laugh raucously at life’s comedy.

Their speech, their posture, their view of this world will trickle in parts down into her tiny frame and will help mould her into a magnificent woman. They will read beautiful literature to her and untangle her brain when algebra ties it in knots. She will be guided on a journey more valuable than all the world’s jewels. She will learn.

To learn is to open one’s eyes, hearts and souls to all the magnificence of this world. It is life’s greatest gift.

Steph x

*Mrs King and Madame Simons were two of my brilliant teachers whose inspiration still touches me today. Thank-you wonderful beings.

Please Note: Images and words are Steph's's unless otherwise indicated

* First image by Tim Coulson.

EDUCATION GUEST POST LILA FROM: Little Wolff

This week’s guest post on Education comes from the lovely Lila from Little Wolff. The more I know Lila, the more we find out how much we have in common. From backgrounds in hairdressing, to raising children generations apart, to tackling crazy renovations Lila is a kindred spirit and I am honoured to have her share her story with me. Make sure you pop over to Lila's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

Educating women post - Why (some) women fail at education.

There are many wonderful different stories of paths to study success that others have to share with you, but that’s not my story.

The first time that I put my study aside was surprisingly not when I became a single mum at 17 but a couple of years earlier when I left school for an apprenticeship that turn out not to be as secure as it had appeared. I returned to high school and continued my pattern of unease and briefly left home and school again ending up pregnant and back at home at 16. Pregnancy didn’t stop me studying but once Miss P arrived between adjusting to a baby and the expectations at home it all seemed too much, within six months I’d entered the workforce and study was shelved.

In the years since then I’ve started studying and have completed several small stints of study and certificates but when I’ve attempted degrees I’ve lasted six months maximum, and it’s not because I’m a bad student I achieve quite high grades.

My story is one of repeated unfulfilled attempts to study and while that’s most likely not an inspiring tale to tell I think that failure is also an important part of opening up the conversation around educating women.

Support: It was around the third year of high school that I realised that my parents weren’t willing to support me through university. I’m not saying that women studying need full financial backing or to be cared for to be successful. But the fact of the matter is that to go to university I would have had to move a minimum of 400kms from home, find and finance accommodation, transport and living costs (my mother earned too much for me to be eligible for government support and being declared independent was also a difficult process). It seemed an insurmountable challenge and so I mentally shifted gears and stopped wanting an academic future for myself, thinking that way caused me to believe there was no point in doing well (or even attending school). If there’s anything to be offered from my experience it’s that telling and showing the women in your life that you are willing to support them (emotionally even if you can’t assist financially) in achieving their dream is paramount in them keeping that dream alive.

Self-sacrifice: It’s natural to me to put my needs aside for the greater good of my family. Except it’s not natural, as women we are trained from birth to sacrifice our desires to fulfil the expectations of others. Each time I’ve attempted study it’s placed our family under financial strain and as such I’ve left to ensure that my family have a more comfortable life, so that they don’t have to go without. For women to be truly equal in access to education we need to teach them from young girls that their needs and desires are valid and just as important as those of others around them.

Recognition: I’m not saying that women should get more recognition for studying than men, but to break through the social conditioning that is so common and achieve whatever goals they may have does need to be celebrated. Some reassuring that they are doing something important and recognition of this struggle to those who are in the midst of studying could be what they need to keep pushing through and finish. Recognising that finishing is just the beginning of the struggle for women in many industries and letting them know you have faith in their ability might be just what they need to put that education into action and break through the many barriers that still exist for women in the workplace.

Take it from me a little encouragement, some love and maybe some babysitting or a meal if you can manage it could be the supporting the girls and women in your life need while pursuing their education dreams.

Please Note: Images and words are Lila's unless otherwise indicated

EDUCATION GUEST POST CAITLIN FROM: Mother Down Under.

Today’s guest post comes from Caitlin at Mother DownUnder. I don’t know how Caitlin manages everything in her life, she is mother to adorable Toddler C, works as a theater nurse, teaches Hypnobirthing, is studying to obtain her Masters in Health Practice, and has her fantastic blog, I am more than a little impressed with her. Caitlin is one talented woman! Make sure you pop over to Caitlin's blog, and two facebook pages and give her a lot of love.

I remember reading an article about the differences between raising boys and girls.  

The author claimed that when a mother is rearing a son she isn't as concerned about their independence..."mommies' boys" are tolerated and even celebrated in our society and since boys will grow up to be men, their dominance is assured.  So boys are coddled and cuddled and indulged without a mother wondering how this will affect their future. 

However a mother who is raising a girl worries about her being independent and self-assured enough to survive and thrive what still is a man's world.  As a result little girls are encouraged and even pushed to become strong and resilient and taught that they have to prove their worth.

Reflecting on my childhood, I know that my parents believed that education was the way to create independent women and I know that they sacrificed all that they had and then some to ensure that my sister and I had the best education available to us.  

I am sure that there were emotional costs...my sister and I both went to boarding school starting at age thirteen.  

And there certainly were financial costs...when I add up the cost of what has been fed to my brain, it is staggering.

I wonder if I will make such sacrifices to educate my son?  

Caitlin's gorgeous son.

I absolutely think that education is important for both boys and girls.  And I will of course do all that it takes to ensure that my son enjoys learning.  

But do I believe that education is as crucial for my son and his future as it would be for a daughter's future? 

Do I think my son will be appreciated and valued for who he is regardless of where he goes to high school?

Do I think girls have it that easy?  No.  I think girls and women are taught that being female is not enough and that education provides them with something concrete that proves that they have value.

I hope that, by the time my boy becomes a man, the world becomes a more fair and equitable place.  

And I hope that he grows up appreciating girls and women for who they are and celebrates their inherent worth.

Please Note: Images and words are Caitlin's unless otherwise indicated. 

THEN AND NOW PARENTING

As I was slathering Jarvis with sun screen, and then layering on the sun shirt, hat, and making sure he was under the shade of the brolly before letting him in the pool, I thought how different I am in so many ways from my parents, yet I am so much the same.

As a child I was lucky to get a crocheted bikini as protection, even Susie with her pale skin was put out in the sun. We joked as children, and as adults, that our mother needed a rotisserie as she loved to bake so much in the sun. There were no time limits, no sun screen, no hats, definitely not a brolly, unless it was to keep the booze cool. A visit to the beach or a pool was all about how much sun we could all get. I remember coming home, as a child, with skin so burnt, it was stiff and painful to move.

Now I am not sure whether it is helicopter parenting or more education on skin cancer, but I am so neurotic about Jarvis getting burnt. I hear myself often nagging him to play in the shade and get out of the sun. I even limit the amount of time he plays outside in the middle part of the day, as this new house does not offer much in the way of protection from the sun.

As I floated in the pool beside Jarvis (yes I had such a tough morning) I began to wonder how much of me was in contrast to my parents and how much of me was the same? Is everything I do a direct reaction from my childhood?

Okay so tell me… what do you do that is exactly like you parents? And what is that you do that is different?.

Jarvis floated out into the sun, all relaxed and laid back in the pool, I was the neurotic mother yelling "kick back over into the shade".

EDUCATION GUEST POST VANISHA FROM: Vanisha's Life In Australia

For the second guest post, in a serious of guest posts from women whom I admire I just knew I had to invite Vanisha from Vanisha's Life in Australia. I have been a long admirer of Vanisha and her blog, in some ways our lives have many parallels. Even though Vanisha is young enough to be my daughter, I feel as if I have so much I can learn from her. I just hope one day our lives will converge and we can meet in real time. Make sure you pop over to Vanisha's blog and say hello. 

What Will I Do With My Education

Julie invited me to be part of her Educating Women Series at a moment where my days seem to be consumed by education of the formal variety. I'm 27 years old, and I am currently 12 weeks shy of submitting my doctoral thesis. I have been in university for almost nine years and have attained numerous qualifications. The PhD was something I wanted to do for me - to push myself and because I love nothing more than writing, research and reading. Now, as I come to the end of this journey I am often asked what I'm going to do next.

For the longest time, I thought I was going to be a mum. I figured that in the final year of my PhD I would be beautifully round and pregnant. A few months ago I found out that that it would not be the case. You can read my infertility related posts here. 

Motherhood was something I was going to do for the next few years. It was something I wanted more than anything. "You're doing a PhD so that you can stay home and have children?" Yes. And No. I'm doing a PhD because I can. And I can have a PhD and stay at home. I'm allowed to choose that. To have a career. Or not. To stay at home. Or not. Or to do both. I just wanted to stay at home.

image via

Now, things are a little different. I'm considering a few things. Blogging full time. I love my blog, I love what I've done with it, the friends I've made and the connections and relationships I've fostered. I'm considering teaching (primary or secondary school) - ie - studying more. To be able teach I'd have to do a Diploma in Education. I'm tossing up ideas.

This "indecision" is not because I don't know who I am or what I want to do. I think it's because I have a strong sense of who I am and have a firm belief that I will excel at things that I am passionate about. And I am passionate about a few things. So there is my dilemma. I know what I'm good at, and I know what I love (though some of the things I really love I'm not really good at...yet).

I will however do two things with my education. I will make a difference in my country, even in a small way. It maybe in the form of a teacher at a school, a mentor, a researcher or perhaps I will take thislittle reading space initiative and turn it into something much bigger. I am determined to make a difference. This is necessary.

The reading space I helped set up

The other thing I will do with my education is more personal, and it is to respect, own and enjoy my right to decide on my path. The education I have had may have been an "opportunity" but I had to make the opportunity work. The entire process is filled with my work, struggles, hopes and joys. I got me to this point - though obviously not on my own - and because of this I will not feel bad or guilty that I may be 'wasting' all this talent or education by deciding to be a blogger or a clown or whatever I decide! I will make a difference in my own way. 

I think it's important not to assume that just because a person is well educated that they seek a career. Some do and some don't and that choice and decision needs to be respected. I understand why people say that I must do certain things because there is no one else - believe me I understand, especially in places like the Pacific. Taking up an academic position or public office is not the only way to contribute. There are people who want these things and I strongly encourage that they continue studying and working towards these goals. But it's just as important to support, or at least respect, those who wish to contribute in other, perhaps more unconventional, ways. My education is a significant part of who I am, but it is not the only part.

Please Note: Images and words are Vanisha's unless otherwise indicated.