Abstract:
Research has shown that rich and detailed understandings of immigrant teachers’ lives can contribute to equity and quality in early childhood education (ECE) (Durden et al., 2015; Robertson, 2012; Sleeter & Milner, 2011). This study focused on the personal, institutional and professional experiences of Chinese immigrant ECE teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an aim at understanding how their aspirations, pathways, transitions and career development in the ECE field have brought complexity and richness to the fluid ECE context in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This study adopted a qualitative research design using narrative inquiry in a multiple-case study context. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and focus group discussions, and a thematic analysis approach was used to examine the highly descriptive data through emergent, recurrent and dominant themes. Various aspects of participants’ experiences were elicited, such as changes in their expectations, transition in time and space, their reflections on policies and working conditions, and their personal and professional identities. To construct the complexity of the interaction, continuity and situation in their narratives, the three-dimensional (Interaction, Continuity and Situation) narrative inquiry space approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) was adopted to re-story each narrative, and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital and field and his reconversion theory were drawn on to interpret meanings.
Findings of the current study highlighted that there are both personal agency and external structural factors that influence Chinese immigrant ECE teachers’ aspirations. In the investigation of their pathways for immigration, there are mainly two different options: to join their family already in New Zealand, and to immigrate as skilled workers under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) scheme. In the understanding of Chinese immigrant ECE teachers’ transitional and professional experiences, there were three significant strategies identified in the findings: obtaining necessary qualifications from New Zealand institutes, building and deploying ethnic and social capital, and making use of new technologies.
Participants also reported four transitional challenges: the changing requirements of English language competency, the need for culturally diverse initial teaching education programs and induction and mentoring programs, a complex matrix of social space for immigrant teachers to navigate, and the power structures in the ECE field.
Finally, the current study has positioned Chinese immigrant ECE teachers as agential rather than compliant passive subjects in their immigration, learning and working experiences. They all showed their willingness and openness toward new learning which defines ECE professionalism as a constantly evolving process. They said being self-reflective and authentic was vital for immigrant teachers to manage their multiple positions and to develop their own voices in their identity construction. Their confidence in teaching and working in the ECE field increased along with their positive sense of self as an immigrant ECE teacher in the new land, which again drove commitment, self-discovery and growth and career satisfaction.
The study has contributed to our current understanding of Chinese immigrant ECE teachers in New Zealand and made several theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of immigrant ECE teacher research. It is argued that we should understand immigrant ECE teachers and ourselves in a holistic manner: inward and outward, personal and social, through different times and places. Supporting immigrant ECE teachers with better policies and culturally responsive practices is essential for future reform and action initiatives, which in turn contribute to the education equity and quality in New Zealand’s ECE section. Implications, limitations of the study, as well as recommendations for future research are also offered.