You are always the educator in these small villages” – Early childhood educators’ work and life in the culturally diverse North
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58955/jecer.157088Keywords:
cultural diversity, the North, early childhood educators, peer interviewsAbstract
This narrative study explores work and life of early childhood educators in the culturally diverse North. The research material consists of peer interviews with twenty-four early childhood educators. The study asks: How do early childhood educators co-narrate ‘being an educator’ in the culturally diverse North? The findings show that educators in the North balance between belonging and unbelonging in their personal everyday lives as well as in their work as early childhood educators. In addition, the findings show how early childhood educators’ co-narrated identities are shaped in between meaningful places, temporality, and communities. Further, the research findings show how the professional and personal lives of educators are tightly entangled. The findings also illustrate how ethical balancing is intertwined with pedagogical practices and daily encounters of early childhood educators in culturally diverse educational communities. Further, the study highlights the importance of the North for educators. The study also introduces a new concept, narrative identities in place, which challenges the recognition of the significance of place for educators’ identities. Moreover, the study suggests that early childhood teacher training programs should strengthen the student teachers’ knowledge and skills related to cultural diversity and consider the significance of place for student teachers evolving identities. In addition, the peer interview method offers a novel methodological approach to the narrative research field.References
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