From Preschool to Professor

This autobiographical article explores the evolving expertise along the journey of an assistant professor in English as a second language and bilingual education. This educator began as a preschool teacher, then became a reading specialist, and is now working at a university, and she reflects on the challenges and rewards of understanding how asking the right questions across multiple contexts matters and of ultimately discovering oneself through ongoing identity negotiation. Inspired by Akiko Hayashi’s Teaching Expertise in Three Countries, the article explores the process of explicitly answering the question of expertise development over time. How do teachers learn with purpose, transform their careers, and find joy in their work despite being pulled by often opposing forces? The former reading specialist moves through three stages of professional growth: resistance, belonging, and transformation. Drawing on her cultural background as a Filipino American, she discusses the dynamic and often nonlinear path she has taken to navigate relationships with her community, colleagues, families, and students. Grounded in the work of scholars such as Ladson-Billings and Freire, this article embraces both successes and mistakes as essential parts of the learning and teaching process.