Student teachers report on the influence of cultural values on classroom practice and community involvement: Perspectives from the Navajo reservation and from abroad

U.S. Student Teachers in Belize, China and Mexico: Patterns of Cultural, Professional, and Character Development

“…This finding was consistent with Quezada's (2004) literature review on student teaching abroad, particularly in instructional pedagogy, learning about oneself, and an authentic appreciation of multiculturalism or a different culture (Bryan & Sprague, 1997;Clement & Outlaw, 2002;Mahon & Cushner, 2007;Stachowski & Visconti, 1997;Stachowski & Chleb, 1998;Stachowski, Richardson, & Henderson, 2003). With respect to instructional pedagogy, student teachers emphasized instructional engagement; that is, the manner in which they interacted with their students in the classroom.…”

“…Student teaching abroad experiences have served as a catalyst for beginning teachers to start on a path of learning about another culture and people through direct interaction with that culture and people Mahon & Cushner, 2007), concurrently with their guided professional development experience. The academic literature generated to describe and understand the value and impact of this experience is generally based on students' personal reflections and surveys, program evaluations, and perceptions by on-site educators within the particular international contexts (Baker, 2000;Bryan & Sprague, 1997;Mahon & Cushner, 2007;Stachowski, Richardson, and Henderson, 2003). Three general elements characterize the student teacher growth and development process: instructional pedagogy, learning about oneself, and an appreciation and understanding of multiculturalism (Bryan & Sprague, 1997;Clement & Outlaw, 2002;Stachowski & Visconti, 1997;Stachowski & Chleb, 1998;Stachowski, Richardson, & Henderson, 2003).…”

“…The academic literature generated to describe and understand the value and impact of this experience is generally based on students' personal reflections and surveys, program evaluations, and perceptions by on-site educators within the particular international contexts (Baker, 2000;Bryan & Sprague, 1997;Mahon & Cushner, 2007;Stachowski, Richardson, and Henderson, 2003). Three general elements characterize the student teacher growth and development process: instructional pedagogy, learning about oneself, and an appreciation and understanding of multiculturalism (Bryan & Sprague, 1997;Clement & Outlaw, 2002;Stachowski & Visconti, 1997;Stachowski & Chleb, 1998;Stachowski, Richardson, & Henderson, 2003). Research (Wang, 2001, cited in Tang & Choi, 2004 has found that interaction between teachers and student teachers may differ in length and frequency, in location, and in topics according to the country.…”

Patterns and Impacts of Short-Term Cross-Cultural Experience in Science and Mathematics Teaching: Benefits, Value, and Experience

“…As in the U.S., a number of universities have developed special and unique programs for experiencing international perspectives (Kissock, 1996;Cushner & Mahon, 2002;Stachowski, Richardson, & Henderson, 2003;Quezada, 2004;Cushner, 2007). Such universities include the Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching (COST) (Cushner & Mahon, 2002), the Cultural Immersion Project at Indiana University at Bloomington (Stachowski et al, 2003), and Global Student Teaching (Kissock, 1996). As a result, schools of education attempt to prepare pre-service teachers by designing internationally-focused courses, supporting foreign language education, and offering extracurricular activities especially overseas experiences program (Cushner, 2007).…”

“…As a result, schools of education attempt to prepare pre-service teachers by designing internationally-focused courses, supporting foreign language education, and offering extracurricular activities especially overseas experiences program (Cushner, 2007). Recent researches show that experience in teaching overseas can impact pre-service teachers regarding self-knowledge, personal confidence, professional competence, and awareness of global and domestic diversity (Cushner & Mahon, 2002;Stachowski et al, 2003;Cushner, 2004). Since the number of the cross-cultural experience programs has recently increased, questions, such as what and how pre-service teachers learn or change in terms of cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains after experiencing the program, what the benefits are, and how pre-service teachers who participate in the program are different from those who are not, are raised to the stakeholders (Cushner, 2007).…”