Being and becoming internationally minded: Snapshots of novice Canadian teachers in international schools

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of three Canadian teachers beginning their formal careers in international schools. International mindedness is taken up as a sensitivity that international schoolteachers both bring to their international teaching assignments and further develop in the transnational spaces of international schools. As such, the internationally minded teacher is able to respond and learn from the intercultural complexities of teaching and living overseas. Findings suggest some elements of international mindedness are more readily appreciated and practiced by these novice teachers while others require greater awareness and effort to attain. The findings also suggest that ‘cosmopolitan learning’ (Rizvi, 2009), foregrounding the importance of critically reflecting upon one’s ‘locatedness’ in the world, represents a generative orientation for teachers wanting to deepen their international mindedness.

‘I’ve Become a Lot Tougher’: Expatriate Teachers’ Experiences of Precarity and Resilience in Non-Traditional International Schools in China

“…Our study contributes to the growing literature that examines the lived experiences of international school teachers (Brady, 2022;Bright, 2022;Budrow, 2021;Estaji & Tabrizi, 2022;Johnson, 2022l Poole, 2022Tarc & Budrow, 2022) as well as literature on international schooling in China (Bunnell & Poole, 2022;Poole, 2021;Teng & An, 2021;Wright & Mulvey, 2022;Wu & Koh, 2022a, 2022bYing & Wright, 2021). Specifically, this paper has sought to poole and bunnell examine the seemingly precarious experiences of international school teachers in a more positive light.…”

Perspective Chapter: Teacher Education in a Multicultural Globalizing World – Field-Based Reflections

“…Using interviews with preservice teachers, the study could investigate preservice teachers' perceptions of international mindedness with the purpose of developing it among this group. In a Western context, Budrow [45] examined international mindedness in a Canadian international school-based context with three in-service teachers (ISTs), who are Canadian of Anglo-European descent and beginning their formal careers in international schools international mindedness. Findings suggest that some elements of international mindedness are more readily appreciated and practiced by these novice teachers, such as curiosity and openness, to know and understand others and the world, while others require greater awareness and effort to attain, such as gender-related issues.…”