Lifelong Learning: Three people, three exciting career paths

Only very few people can imagine starting a Master's degree programme again at the age of 47. However, Paola Tomassini-Clement has done just that, and more, because the now 61-year-old is constantly continuing her education. "I've actually always been like a sponge and have enjoyed learning, whether it was through further training or from the people I've worked with over the course of my career, " says the Italian-born teacher. Today, the pedagogue's CV includes "responsible for inclusion" at the municipality of Dudelange, but also "stress management coach", "trainer" and "systemicist", to name just a few of her titles.

Her speciality: working with children with special needs and their families and carers, because as a coach she accompanies both educational teams and people in management positions, always in the social field. But back to the beginning. After Tomassini-Clement attended nursing school, the young Italo-Luxembourgish woman was given the opportunity to take part in a pilot project and work in an early intervention daycare centre. It was here that she discovered her passion for equal opportunities for all children and began to train in this area. "I was active in a European project for integration, worked a lot in the network here and travelled to Germany and Denmark, among other places, to further my education there, " recalls the educator.

Studying alongside a full-time job

After several jobs, Tomassini-Clement finally ended up working for a local authority, where she provided socio-educational support for families. "I learnt a lot in the years before and during my time there, but I also saw a lot of things that didn't work and became frustrated because many of the institutions I worked with were not set up adequately in terms of management, which meant I couldn't do my job to my standards, " says the educator. She looked for a solution and found it in Uni.lu's Master's programme in Management and Coaching in the Social and Educational Sector.

"I was enthusiastic, submitted my dossier and applied to the municipality for time off to study. However, I met with resistance." Instead of being given time for further training, Tomassini-Clement had to do it alongside her 40-hour job. These were tough years, but they also opened many doors for the social worker and gave her a better understanding of the field in which she had been working for so long. The then 50-year-old then attended a masterclass in individual and team coaching at the Ecole Internationale de Coaching de Bruxelles and travelled to Hamburg to train as a system-oriented specialist in the field of child endangerment, thus rounding off her area of expertise.