Mollenhauer’s Representation: The Role of Preservice Teachers in the Practices of Upbringing

Abstract

Our recent research study investigated an international field experience for preservice teachers, labelled as a service-learning internship, a term often used to refer to a student teacher in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Relying on what we know to be advantages and benefits of similar international field experiences for preservice teachers to frame our investigation, we explored the impact of a service-learning internship upon beginning teachers, particularly as it related to their professional growth as teachers. To gain insight into teacher education, we drew on the work of Mollenhauer (2014) to critically examine the foundations of how we prepare teachers in our BEd program. Analysis of questionnaire responses, tracked by a digital discussion forum via Moodle™, revealed two dominant themes: (a) gaining a deeper understanding of children, and (b) learning to be flexible regardless of curricular constraints. Results from this study might be of interest to those who share a similar interest in international field experiences, teacher education, and pedagogy. Keywords: pedagogy, Bildung; teacher education; international; field experience; service learning; global teaching