Some stories included turning challenging factors into opportunities as the participants took on the challenges as opportunities to learn new skills. In Jessica’s
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case, a future career with a legitimate qualification was her imagined identity. She reported that she had been working at a supermarket, and she could have kept working there. However, she said that she had to think of her family’s future. She needed to learn English, so she went back to school for further training for a TESOL diploma. Her subsequent unsuccessful application to an ECE programme allowed her to consider other options. She applied for a degree programme at a university and was accepted. Jessica faced challenges, yet she dealt with them by enrolling in other courses and programmes.
Holly told me a language learning story from her early days in Aotearoa NZ. She faced challenges due to her English proficiency in her initial enrolment in a business programme and shifted to a language course. Her English improved, and she was working as an interpreter at the time of the interviews. She mentioned at the third interview that the interpreting job was stressful but without the work she would not have had any opportunities to learn English. She considered the job as an opportunity to learn further.
Employment as an interpreter had not been her imagined identity during the early settlement period. She wanted a job at a trading company. However, she faced limited job opportunities in the trading sector. She attended an interpreter training course and became a contract interpreter. She reported that it was similar to her original career choice in terms of helping and bridging the gap between Chinese and Aotearoa New Zealanders.
Mia wanted to learn English as soon as she arrived in Aotearoa NZ because she could not communicate in English. She volunteered at an ECE centre to learn communicative English as seen below.
And teachers there used simple English to children. To learn English, I did volunteer work there. At the . . . preschool, I carefully listened to teachers. I volunteered for eight months, from April to December. (Interview 1)
Working as a volunteer helped Mia to be familiar with English language use in the setting. At the same time, it was an opportunity to demonstrate her skills as an
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ECE teacher to the manager, colleagues, students and parents—the event was described in several sections and also will be examined further in Section 5.4.3.2.
Another incident also indicates how Mia took challenges as opportunities. At work, Mia had to call an ambulance due to a back injury. She commented that she took it as a learning opportunity for the children at the centre. She concluded that “children learnt lots about the ambulance on that day, real situation education” (Interview 6). After the incident, Mia recounted another story that happened at work as well, which could be said to be a similar example. At work, she felt that she was misunderstood after being accused of dishonesty (as previously described, a colleague told the employer that Mia failed to truthfully fill in her timesheet). The complaint led to several disagreements in the toddler team. Then it was suggested that Mia work on the preschool team for a few days a week. The shift was positive for Mia because she was respected there as skilful and resourceful. The new team wanted her to become a regular staff member, assigning her more responsibilities. She reported that “Preschool teachers really like it [her origami class and a music class]. You know I do work well, and I am good at tidying up and cleaning” (Interview 7). She was not discouraged when faced with these challenges. She admitted that the shift was also a great opportunity to “see how preschool is running” (Interview 7) for her imagined community, running an ECE centre and a Korean school.
Simi faced a challenge at her first ECE programme practicum, which was described in several earlier sections. She feared that she would be unable to finish her first practicum successfully. The following excerpt is Simi’s recount on the event.
She checked my reflection. And I told her I was happy to have a meeting with her because I didn't feel comfortable as she stopped communicating with me. And then we had a meeting, and I told her. I had come here to learn from you. It was my first practicum in NZ. And this kind of experience is not good for me. I don't learn anything. I am here to learn. I said I heard a lot about you, and they said you were very good at actual work and everything. If you
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don't communicate with me, I would not able to learn anything. I would not able to get benefit from you. (Interview 2)
After the meeting, she was able to finish her practicum successfully, and she continued her journey to becoming an ECE teacher. Simi faced a challenge which could have jeopardised her successful completion of the ECE programme. Yet, she took it as an opportunity to express her reactions and her expected outcomes from the practicum. The stories above show how the participants took constraints as opportunities and moved forward to their imagined communities.