<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThings do get tough sometimes and I tend to go home and fix the world around 3 in the morning, which is a good time to fix stuff, but it leaves me feeling a bit washed out the next day! We have a good team here and colleagues are always good to bounce things around with. The environment for this is safe, supportive and respectful. So although we don\u2019t always agree we respect views and know how to communicate to ensure that all voices are heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lots of things can be fixed through policy, philosophy and procedure but often this is where the challenges come in too. Our values are strong but if someone doesn\u2019t work in the same values system it can get tricky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would would be your biggest achievement?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Depends on the area you are talking about. Family and Playcentre and life are all intertwined for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have a big family and they are very close. The girls treasure and nurture their own children and know how important it is for them to be a part of their children\u2019s early years and their ECE. My children are independent and confident contributors to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My oldest son has a very successful career and when I think of the barriers and prejudices that he started his life with and combine them with his early years, with a young single mum in a state house, I am very proud of what he has become<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From an academic point of view I was the first one in my generation to get any type of formal qualification and now three of my children have degrees. Playcentre gets the credit for this. If I didn\u2019t get hooked into the training when I started I can\u2019t imagine where we would be now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was very proud to lead the march through Christchurch and be the spokesperson for the Association when funding cuts to Playcentre were being threatened. We work as a team and I am proud to be part of a team that has achieved so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have supported centre whanau both personally and at a centre level, and we have created and run a very successful Babies Can Play programme for new parents. This programme is especially designed for first time parents and is an education programme based on the needs of the group for the first two years of babies\u2019 life, until they move on to Playcentre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have a full and successful parent training programme, we are culturally leading the way in many areas around tikanga and our centres are continuing to run under very adverse conditions here in Christchurch. Our teams are strong and all have a shared passion to be the best they can be for the centres and the whanau in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what would be your biggest regret?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Life is too short for regrets. I believe in looking forward and making every experience a learning and growing experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For anyone considering a similar career as yours \u2013 what gems of advice might you suggest to them?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Children are our greatest gift. They deserve the very best we can give them and for me that was the gift of staying at home and learning how to be the best parent I could, even through trying times. This is the responsibility we take on when we decide to have children. Parents must value their role and society must also value parents. The trend to drop kids off for hours at a time to be cared for by strangers alarms me and I am fearful that children who grow up with a decreased sense of attachment belonging will never be able to realise their true potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Education is the key to everything but it must be relevant. If you don\u2019t have the right learning environment keep going until you find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Would you ever consider changing your role from your current one, and if so, would pay be a consideration?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Money would not be the main consideration for me. The type of organisation we are, everyone is paid the same hourly rate and this makes us lineal. Our organisation has an unwritten understanding that we only stay in our roles for about five years. This gives us the opportunity to take on new roles within the organisation, or transfer our skills into the wider world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t imagine what I will do next, but I will only work in the Not for Profit sector, and I would need to feel like I was making a difference and enhancing people\u2019s lives. I would also need to be in a place that has a culture of family first, respect, trust and caring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Laine Barker Playcentre Campaigner. July 10, 2012. Laine Barker Playcentre Campaigner, is a parent who spearheaded a hugely successful campaign in Canterbury in 2011 to get the Education Minister (and Prime Minister!) to promise not to cut funding to Playcentres. She has been the Chairperson of the Canterbury Playcentre Association and a member of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Playcentre Campaigner and Manager - Laine Barker's Biography<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n