Simi’s narrated journey from February 2013 to March 2014 was focused on being an ECE teacher and a mother of two children. At the first interview, she shared her hope to be an owner of an ECE centre in the future. At the same time, she wished she could be travelling back and forth to her home country, India, when her children did not need any more close support. Yet, at the last interview in March
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2014, she mentioned that there might be a different pathway in front of her. Both of her children were successfully enrolled in degree programmes at university, and she had been nominated to be a governing member of a community-based ECE centre (see Appendix I-2 for Simi’s past, present and future communities).
Table 4.6 shows the significant events identified during interviews.
Table 4.6: Significant events recounted by Simi
When Significant Event Background Interview session Early days of
settlement
Being told by an associate teacher that she was not using English correctly and received it in writing as a form of reflection
First day of practicum at an ECE centre at an early stage of settlement
Second
Early stage of settlement
Obtaining an ECE teacher qualification
Decision to study even though she was a registered teacher
First
April 2013 Looking into the details of the trip and informing the teachers and centre
Colleagues had no interest in her idea about a day trip
Third
May 2013 A confidential matter being shared by her manager in relation to running the centre
An issue at the centre Fourth
August 2013 Manager initiated to change her shifts due to the practice of her religion
Ramadan period Sixth
January 2014 Becoming a governing member of a community- based ECE centre
Community-based ECE centre opened in Hamilton
Eighth
To briefly describe events in the table above, the first and the second interviews included stories during her early days of settlement to Aotearoa NZ. Simi obtained an ECE teacher qualification which was recounted as significant during the first interview. During the second interview, she reported an incident which happened during a practicum. She was accused of misusing English words during a conversation with an associate teacher at the centre. It threatened her future. The associate teacher stopped communicating with Simi for a week, and she
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mentioned the lack of English skills in a reflection letter on Simi’s practicum. The incident challenged Simi’s successful practicum and completion of the ECE programme. Consequently, she discussed it with her course supervisor so she could resolve the tension with the associate teacher.
In April 2013, she initiated a preschool day trip to an aquarium. Although none of her team members were keen on the idea, she gathered information about the trip and informed the teachers and the school. Her initiative led to a successful day trip. In May, she shared a story of the manager and employer treating her as a trusted employee at work on a confidential issue at the centre (on which she didn’t tell me the details). She was one of the very few people who became aware of the issue. In August, she reported that it was the month of her religious activity, Ramadan. Her work shift was adjusted accordingly, which was initiated by her employer. In January 2014, she shared a story of her becoming a governing member of a newly developed community-based ECE centre.
As seen in the table, the identified stories were closely related to her being a competent ECE teacher. Most of Simi’s previous recounts were consistent with being an appreciated and trustworthy employee, such as the story identified in the fourth interview. This confident ECE teacher identity was built on challenges and threats in an incident at the beginning of her settlement, which was shared in the second interview, as mentioned above. The incident occurred on the first day of her practicum. Her English was corrected by her associate teacher when she was helping prepare for morning tea. She was very upset but kept quiet even though she believed she had said the word, fruit, correctly. After the incident, the associate teacher ignored her for a week. It was very unsettling since she was the one who would mark Simi’s performance. Also, the way the associate teacher wrote her reflection made her feel hurt and annoyed, as seen in the excerpt below.
So I arrived there, saw my associate teacher in the kitchen to do morning tea. So I thought I would help her. "Are you preparing the morning tea? Is there anything I can help you with? Do you want me to cut the fruit or anything like that?" . . . She said it is not fruits; it is fruit. She was pretty rude, the way
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she said it. So I didn't understand. It was my first day, and I was nervous. I said I did say fruit. Anyway kept quiet because I didn't want to upset her, I didn't argue with her. I quietly did what I was told. . . . Then, she wrote in the reflection; I had used the word plural fruit. She had an Indian teacher who worked for her before, and she used to say fruits all the time, and she wrote on the board and then, and she said Indians used English in a very archaic manner and everything. So I was quite put off. . . . She had her concern about teachers coming from overseas with no English background, and they were trying to come here and work like that, pretty nasty stuff. . . . (Interview 2) This event threatened her identity as a competent English user. When she was young, she studied at a convent school with Irish Sisters and had years of teaching experience in India and overseas.
Later, Simi discussed this matter with her course supervisor, who advised her to write a reflection letter. With that letter, she had a meeting with the associate teacher. At the meeting, she was able to express her thoughts and feelings. The result was surprising, because the associate teacher actually listened to her. The rest of the practicum went smoothly, and the associate teacher marked her performance with good grades.
This competent ECE teacher identity was again confirmed by an event reported in the eighth interview. Simi was appointed as a member of a governing board of a newly organized community-based ECE centre. She was one of seven members. Her role in the committee was to use her expertise in early childhood education. She recounted this event as something very empowering as she was being recognised as an expert in her field in wider communities. This event made her think of her future in a different way. There was still a vagueness about what it could be, but she felt that it was time for her to go further with her career, not only on the path of working as an ECE teacher. Another possibility had emerged for her.
At the last interview, she pointed out that a major turning point was changing her career path, from primary to ECE. She mentioned that her life in Aotearoa NZ could
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have been a different one, if she had not decided to study further at the beginning of her settlement. She had noticed career possibilities while she was working as a reliever, both in the primary and ECE sectors. She said that she made good decisions, which was the reason she considered herself as lucky compared to other migrants. Both she and her husband maintained the careers they had started back home. Recently they had also purchased a new house, and both of her children were enrolled in programmes at university. According to her, her feeling of being lucky was the result of making the right choice at the right time.