Teacher Candidates in International Contexts

Author(s):  
S. Michael Putman

Colleges of education are under pressure to produce globally competent teachers. Within this context, there has been increasing support for participation in international field experiences. This chapter presents findings associated with a study abroad experience on preservice teachers' cultural awareness and efficacy for culturally responsive practices. Implications will address the development of understanding of the various issues that surround international teaching experiences for preservice candidates.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Jon Byker

PurposeThis paper investigates and reports on the study abroad experiences of 22 teacher candidates from the Southeast region of the USA (n=22). The purpose of this paper is to examine the teacher candidates’ development of social and emotional learning through their international teaching experiences.Design/methodology/approachThe study is framed by Critical Cosmopolitan Theory, which is a theoretical lens for a critical understanding of the development of global competencies for critical consciousness. The paper uses a case study research design (Yin, 2008), which included data collected via artifact analysis, participant interviews and participant observation through field notes.FindingsThe study found how the study abroad and international teaching experiences were instrumental in aiding in the teacher candidates’ social and emotional learning. This included the adoption of culturally responsive teaching practices, development of reading the world and enactment of taking action to rewrite the world.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations is the relatively small sample size. This is due, in part, to the high cost associated with study abroad. The high cost of study abroad can be a barrier for students to access the cross-cultural experiences afforded by study abroad. The hefty price tag of study abroad often limits the number of teacher candidates at public institutions who can go on study abroad (Malewski and Phillion, 2009). A future research agenda is needed about ways to help off-set the costs in order to make study abroad more affordable and equitable.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of this paper are that it provides an instructive lens for how to integrate social and emotional learning within a study abroad experience. At the same time, the paper connects socio-emotional learning (SEL) with the development of global competencies and global citizenship.Social implicationsThe social implications relate to the practical implications in that the paper illustrates how SEL is connected to the development of global citizenship development. The study weds the critical cosmopolitan framework with SEL to show how learners develop empathy through reading and rewriting the world.Originality/valueThe case study presented in this paper highlights the possibilities of study abroad in tandem with international teaching experiences to help prepare teachers with SEL features like fostering empathy, developing culturally responsive practices, and becoming critically conscious and cosmopolitan. The study fills a gap in the literature regarding the development of SEL among elementary education teacher candidates through study abroad and international teaching experiences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110625
Author(s):  
Saghar Chahar Mahali ◽  
Phillip R. Sevigny

Many teachers enter classrooms with limited cross-cultural awareness and low levels of confidence to accommodate cultural diversity. Therefore, teaching a heterogeneous body of students requires teachers to have culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE). The investigation of factors impacting teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching diverse students has produced mixed results. The purpose of the current study was to explore the determinants of CRTSE in a sample of Canadian preservice teachers. One hundred and ten preservice teachers from a medium-sized public Canadian University completed measures of political orientation, CRTSE, cross-cultural experiences, and teacher burnout. Higher levels of preservice teachers’ CRTSE were predicted by lower levels of Emotional Exhaustion (i.e., a key aspect of burnout syndrome) and more frequent cross-cultural experiences in their childhood and adolescence. Implications for training preservice teachers are discussed.


Author(s):  
Barbara A. Bradley ◽  
Andrea M. Emerson

Culturally responsive teaching is grounded in an understanding of students' cultural backgrounds. However, how do preservice teachers learn about culture? While coursework and field placements can help preservice teachers to begin to understand what culture is, a study abroad program in which participants are immersed in a community and schools can help them move beyond surface-level ideas of culture to a deeper understanding of it. This chapter describes a 4-week summer study abroad program in Italy in which each preservice teacher lives with a host family and observes and teaches in an Italian school. It presents findings from preservice teachers' reflections on culture and teaching based on blog entries. Finally, it provides suggestions for future research related to better understanding and preparing preservice teachers to engage in culturally responsive teaching.


2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
JoAnn Phillion ◽  
Erik L. Malewski ◽  
Suniti Sharma ◽  
Yuxiang Wang

This article discusses research that indicates that the lived experience of studying abroad provides preservice teachers the intellectual and critical starting point for multicultural awareness of the educational, social, and political relationships between their lives and other cultures. With course work and field experiences that are grounded in multicultural life-experience, the authors argue that preservice teachers begin to develop the awareness, sensitivity, and skills they urgently need to bridge the gap between White teachers and their historically underprivileged student populations and to understand the rapidly diversifying classrooms in which they will teach. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-120
Author(s):  
Erik Jon Byker ◽  
Tingting Xu

For students to become global citizens they need globally competent teachers. The purpose of this article is to describe and compare the development of global competencies in teacher candidates who participated in international teaching-focused study abroad programs. The article is framed by Critical Cosmopolitan Theory (Byker, 2013), which offers a lens for the development of global competencies through the fusion of critical consciousness (Freire, 1970) and cosmopolitanism (Appiah, 2010). In the field of teacher education, study abroad experiences can help enhance teacher candidates’ commitment to culturally responsive teaching practices (Gay, 2002) and intercultural awareness (Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2003). The article reports on two case studies of study abroad programs for U.S. teacher candidates. One case study focuses on a study abroad program in China (n=13) and the other case study focuses on a study abroad program in South Africa (n=22). The article compares the teacher candidates’ perceptions of their study abroad experiences in relationship to the development of global competencies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Jon Byker ◽  
S. Michael Putman

Study abroad is an experiential learning pedagogy that has many positive outcomes. In the field of teacher education, study abroad provides opportunity for the development of global competencies and agency. Similarly, study abroad can help expand notions of what it means to be a global citizen. This article examines the effects of preservice teachers engaging in a study abroad program to South Africa. Critical Cosmopolitan Theory provides the article’s theoretical frame for the investigation of the impact of this study abroad program. The study’s participant sample comprised preservice teachers from a large research university located in the Southeast region of the United States ( N = 21). Using a mixed-methods research design, the study examined the participants’ perceptions of their study abroad and international teaching experiences. It was found that the study abroad experience was a catalyst for enhancing preservice teachers’ global competencies, intercultural awareness, and cultural responsiveness as the participants widened their perspectives of what it means to be a critically cosmopolitan educator and citizen.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne Dyches

This case study tells the story of Geneva Wilson, an African American teacher of British literature. The study positions the entirely White male curriculum and Geneva’s Black female body as texts that embody oppositional dominant and nondominant Discourses. Findings reveal a contentious relationship between the categorical canonicity Geneva experienced, and was required to teach, and her body. Intertextual frictions complicated the culturally responsive practices she felt efficacious in actualizing. Geneva mitigated Discoursal incongruences by performing a secondary dominant Discourse and designing subversively culturally responsive experiences for her students. The study highlights the need to nuance and particularize the effects of canonicity and to situate investigations of White male curricula relative to literacy teachers’ storied existences and contextually specific teaching experiences.


10.28945/3626 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 001-014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Luo ◽  
Laura Hibbard ◽  
Teresa Franklin ◽  
David Moore

Aim/Purpose The goal of this project was to determine what effects exposure to online K-12 teaching and learning activities had on teacher candidates’ perceptions of K-12 online learning, how the exposure allowed teacher candidates to reach greater understanding of online pedagogy, and what effect such exposure had on teacher candidates’ aspirations to complete virtual field experiences. Background With an increasing number of K-12 students learning online within full-time online schools and in blended learning environments, universities must prepare future educators to teach in virtual environments including clinical practice. Before engaging in online field placement, preservice teachers must be oriented to online K-12 teaching and learning. Methodology Using a design-based, mixed-method research methodology, this study drew samples from four sections of a hybrid technology integration course. Preservice teachers’ papers detailing their perceptions, focus groups, and surveys were used to gauge changes in perceptions of online learning after participating in online teaching and learning activities. Contribution The study demonstrated that an exposure to online K-12 classrooms stimulated preservice teachers’ interest in online teaching as they began to feel that online education could be equivalent to traditional education. Findings Students’ perceptions positively improved the equivalency of online learning to traditional schooling, the possibility of positive relationships between teachers and students, and the ability to create interactive learning. Students also reported being more knowledgeable and showed increased interest in participating in virtual field experiences. Future Research Future research may continue to examine if the exposure course, combined with a short-term clinical experiences and long-term online apprenticeships may serve to prepare graduates with the skills necessary to teach in classrooms of the future.


Author(s):  
Miles Harvey ◽  
Jose Lopez ◽  
Marisa Wickham ◽  
Adrianna G. Deuel ◽  
Cameron Savage

This four-year study explored a multiple case study about how four preservice teachers spent an entire school year with students, developed their teacher identity, designed lessons, played games, and coached scholastic esports. What started out as a culturally responsive gesture to include video games and competitive esports into the classroom turned out to be what both the middle school students and the teacher candidates needed to push their learning experiences forward in meaningful ways. Teacher candidates gained valuable experiences from the integration of video games and scholastic esports through a wide variety of teaching strategies. Teaching candidates answered five questions about their experiences using video games and esports in the classroom. Five major themes were identified through the reflexive thematic analysis: developing relationships, understanding games and scholastic esports, teaching in new ways, perspectives and attitudes about games and scholastic esports, and the integration of games and scholastic esports.


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