Reimagining the Curriculum in Study Abroad: Globalizing Multiculturalism to Prepare Future Teachers

Abstract

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.

How International Field Experiences Promote Cross-Cultural Awareness in Preservice Teachers through Experiential Learning: Findings from a Six-Year Collective Case Study

“…Although the literature on study abroad provides few frames of reference for how cultural differences such as race, class, and gender affect preservice teachers' experiences while abroad, a few studies have examined how such cross-cultural experiences might be infused into onsite curricula (Bigelow & Peterson, 2002;Engle & Engle, 2004;Hadis, 2005;University of Minnesota, 2005). Studies that specifically explore the ways in which race, class, and gender shape the cultural perceptions of preservice teachers during a study abroad program reveal that preservice teachers have a more complex, nuanced understanding of cross-cultural differences as a result of international field experiences (Phillion, Malewski, Sharma, & Wang, 2009;Talburt & Stewart, 1999). Given the push to increase study abroad programs for preservice teachers, many educational researchers call for future studies on how the cultural knowledge of preservice teachers changes after an international field experience (Ingraham & Peterson, 2004;Merryfield, 2000), and ways in which study abroad programs can prepare preservice teachers for culturally responsive teaching (Barkhuizen & Feryok, 2006;Malewski & Phillion, 2009b;Willard-Holt).…”

How intercultural experience affects university students’ gender views: potential for transforming higher education in Japan

“…Research that focuses on students’ views on gender in the context of studying abroad has continued since the 1990s, although the number remains limited. There is a common trend among the previous studies; they are mostly case studies targeted for short study-abroad programs conducted by Western universities, and most of the participating students are Caucasian (e.g., Jessup-Anger, 2008 ; Phillion et al, 2009 ; Squire et al, 2015 ; Talburt & Stewart, 1999 ; Twombly, 1995 ).…”

Does Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad Improve Students’ Global Competence? Findings From a Systematic Review and Evidence Gap Map

“…Instructors utilized some form of qualitative inquiry to assess 13.6% of outcomes; these were typically one-on-one or focus group interviews but occasionally included class activities that had been audio recorded and analyzed thematically. For example, Phillion et al (2009) audio recorded classroom discussions and mealtime group discussions while abroad then transcribed an analyzed these narratives. Traditional academic papers or similar written course assignments were utilized in 13.3% of cases.…”