Nikki Baldwin, Early Childhood & Education Center (ECEC) curriculum coordinator, has been living her life teaching and being around both young children and college students who, in her eyes, are not as different as they seem.
The energies that surround children and college kids keep Baldwin young as she continues in her line of work, which keeps her involved with both the college of education as well as the ECEC.
“There’s a really similar energy from young children and college students about just wanting to know about the world,” said Baldwin. “[They have a] really innate curiosity about everything that’s around them, how it all works and how they all fit in that big picture.”
Being a child at heart has helped shape Baldwin’s career path, “I’m immature – that’s been a real key for my whole life,” Baldwin said. “I’ve just never really wanted to be a grown-up. I love being around that energy of youth.”
Baldwin’s real passion is the early childhood’s ins and outs that she gets to share with students. Being able to teach about this subject makes her feel as though she’s been given the opportunity to live in the best of both worlds.
“I love teaching,” Baldwin said. “It’s my favorite thing to do in life. I love getting to talk about the things that I’m most passionate about to an audience of interested students. It just doesn’t even seem real to me.”
Drawing parallels between both younger and older children allows Baldwin to reflect on how the human condition has shaped the way people experience the world as well as education for youth.
“Lots of people don’t realize that young children are just so capable and strong and intelligent,” Baldwin said. “I love helping other people sort of recognize those things in young kids and see the magic that is them as whole complete human beings already.”
One of Baldwin’s areas of concentration is children with special needs and the encouragement of families to be advocates for their children with those needs. Kids fit into the bigger picture of society as parents mold them. Dealing with special needs takes great care.
“She brings an incredible knowledge of working with young children, [and] she has a very strong background in her previous job of working with children with special needs,” ECEC Director Mark Bittner said of Baldwin. “She’s extremely knowledgeable about the process of working with people with disabilities, especially in early childhood.”
By bringing in Baldwin’s expertise, the ECEC has benefitted from the diversity of her knowledge.
Not only does Baldwin teach classes and coordinate curriculums, but she also has been running a study abroad opportunity for early childhood educators in Nepal. She began this program in 2014 and has been taking the journey yearly with groups of her students.
“Multicultural teaching is a big part of what I like to teach,” Baldwin said. “That’s the other thing that I love about my position – I can take students and see other parts of the world. You just can’t learn things like that in any other way.”
Opportunities such as this are only some of the experiences that allow for the creation of relationships and connections with Baldwin’s students.
“I appreciate Nikki because she truly cares about each student that comes in her classroom,” current Student Teacher Taylor Kaiser said. “She has always been willing to help me in any way she could and continues to through my student teaching.”
Baldwin puts emphasis on incorporating the ideals of compassion and care with her interpersonal relationships with the students she is able to teach.
“I think relationships are the most important thing in life, really,” said Baldwin. “How we treat each other. What I spend most of my time teaching students about in some form or another is how essential it is to truly understand who the kids are that you teach and that your relationship with them is more important than anything you could ever teach them from a textbook.”
Real life application of the creation of relationships has grounded Baldwin in her passion for teaching, and she will continue spreading her influence to all those she is given the opportunity to.
