“I am rooted, but I flow”: a photovoice investigation into the (re)construction of professional identity among immigrant early childhood educators in Australia

Immigrant ECEC educators in Australia navigate unique personal, cultural, and institutional conditions as they (re)construct their professional identities in a new sociocultural context. This study employs Photovoice and two rounds of in-depth interviews with twelve immigrant ECEC educators to explore the factors that facilitate or impede this identity construction process. Using a “garden elements” metaphor developed through constructivist grounded theory analysis, the findings highlight three key facilitators of identity construction, namely reflective practices that anchor growth (“roots”), community and institutional supports that provide emotional and professional nourishment (“soil”), and everyday acts of creative agency that energise practice (“sunlight”). Conversely, three impediments that disrupt continuity and contribute to moments of fragmentation include emotional and resource scarcity (“drought”), tensions arising from negotiating multiple cultural and professional expectations (“weeds”), and periods of reflective immobility (“pests”). Methodologically, this study extends Photovoice by adapting it to individual interviews and by giving equal analytic weight to visual and narrative data. Implications for supporting immigrant ECEC educators include strengthening culturally responsive induction structures, embedding reflective learning opportunities, and recognising theseeducators’ creative and cultural expertise as central to high-quality ECEC practice.