Interwoven identities in Infant and toddler education and care: "What do you think babies will do with clay? Make pots?!"

Developing a professional identity as a teacher is an important aspect of preservice teachers' preparation for the profession. As Appleby, Hanson, Barr, Bailey and Proctor (Chapter 6 of this volume) discuss, the identities of teachers become inextricably linked with those of the children they spend so many hours with each day. We agree with this stance and argue that reflecting on what it is to be a teacher with children under 3 years of age is a fundamental aspect of the preparation of all early childhood teachers, because this improves both the professional identity of infant and toddler teachers and the experiences of the children they work with. In this chapter, we explore the complex, interrelated identities that contribute to making an infant-toddler teacher and argue that developing a professional identity may be both more crucial and more challenging for early childhood teachers wishing to work with children under 3 years of age than for those working with older children. Drawing on our past experiences (and identities) as preservice teachers, early childhood teachers and researchers with infants and toddlers, we discuss how we grapple with questions of what it means to be a teacher with infants and toddlers. We further reflect on this issue in our current roles as educators of students undertaking a practicum with children under 3 years of age, and consider how our own identities become interwoven with the students' developing professional identities.