Studying Abroad to Inform Teaching in a Diverse Society

2017

This chapter presents information about Ball State University’s Study Abroad Program within the Department of Elementary Education. A general description of students enrolled in the Elementary Education program is given, both historically and currently. Then the origins of the Ball State Elementary Education Study Abroad program are explained, followed by a description of countries and program types that have occurred over the years. A general overview of program considerations, including making contacts, recruiting students, and working with schools is then provided. Next, three travel programs in the department are described, including development, recruitment, and vignettes focusing on experiences in each program. Next, research about program experiences is presented, including the impact of study abroad experiences on students. Personal reflections from instructors who have participated will then be shared. Finally, suggestions about developing and implementing programs will be ...

Handbook of Research on Efficacy and Implementation of Study Abroad Programs for P-12 Teachers

Study abroad experiences provide teacher candidates with opportunities to explore teaching and learning while immersed in diverse international and intercultural settings. International pre-service teaching experiences range from short trips to expose teacher candidates to diverse cultures to extensive internships in which teacher candidates complete their student teaching. In this chapter, the authors created a 4-week intensive field experience for teacher candidates and studied the key features of program design and implementation as well as the impact of participation on teacher candidates' professional development.

Handbook of Research on Study Abroad Programs and Outbound Mobility

This chapter describes the design of an innovative ‘Study Abroad' curriculum to be integrated into teacher education departments. The curriculum is based upon the results of in-depth interviews administered to teacher candidates and/or practicing teachers of English following their return from a study abroad program. The curriculum is designed with a view to meeting the needs of prospective study abroad student teachers of English, and to address possible challenges that may result from their participation in such programs. The most innovative aspect of the curriculum is that it incorporates problem scenarios, and provides experiential hands-on practice. The curriculum comprises ten modules, each focused on a different topic. It is expected that the curriculum will enhance teacher educators' awareness of the contribution(s) study abroad makes to create global citizens, and increase teacher educators' knowledge about the learning needs of prospective study abroad student ...

Handbook of Research on Efficacy and Implementation of Study Abroad Programs for P-12 Teachers

This chapter describes a group study abroad program in which 12 U.S. participants (6 pre-service and 6 in-service teachers) traveled to South Korea to enhance their cultural awareness of Korea and to then develop curricula pertaining to Korean history, the arts, area studies, and literature. The authors describe what the program focused on and how the curriculum activities were designed and implemented. Further, an overall theoretical framework for the project and a summary of research findings is presented. Overall, findings note that the participants' level of perceived cultural awareness was not significantly altered through participation in the program. Additionally, this chapter reports whether and how participants' future perceived pedagogical practices were changed as a result of participating in this program. Suggestions for how to diversify the U.S. teacher workforce are also discussed.

Advancing Teacher Education and Curriculum Development through Study Abroad Programs

This chapter describes how faculty can plan, develop, prepare, and lead a study abroad program in a non-English speaking country for students majoring in education. It presents an overview and timeline for directing a program, discusses how to plan and develop a program, tells how to recruit and prepare participants, and describes how to support participants while living and teaching abroad. It also presents issues that faculty should consider during each phase of a study abroad, and it provides suggestions for addressing these concerns. It is strange what walking far from home will do to a person, strange and beautiful. The more you see, the less you will realize that you know. Still, a journey such as this is quite literally a "choose your own adventure" in that you get out exactly what you decide to put in. I think more people should know what it is to completely relinquish control by stepping outside the so-called comfort zone. In doing so you might find that the other side is not so frightening or unfamiliar and that, after it all, you are a better person because of it.

Online Submission, 2013

Twenty first century teachers need to be proficient in technology, skilled as reflective practitioners, and able to reflect on diversity in a myriad of ways: learning styles, special needs, cultural differences, racial differences, developmentally appropriate differences, teaching styles, and personality differences of children, teachers, parents, community members, and administrators. The paradigm shift of the 21st century is that teachers need to be team players who are skilled at operating in a variety of collaborative partnerships. Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago over the years has developed many international program experiences for students. Study abroad for a few weeks, a semester or a year provides an intensive way to experience another culture and see other ways of living life. This article takes a close look at a recent NEIU initiative, a program called Student Teaching and Korean Experience (S.T.a.K.E.). Students are able to complete an overseas student teaching internship in South Korea. We will examine students' reflections on their experience.

2022

The important role of study abroad in the preparation of competent teachers for the 21 st-century globalized world cannot be underestimated. Yet, the percentage of teacher education programs that have incorporated study abroad into their curriculum is still negligible. While there are approximately 5.3 million emergent bilinguals in U.S. K-12 public schools, and they constitute the fastest growing sector of K-12, the demographics of teachers have changed very little, with most of them being White, middle-class, monolingual, and monolithic females. Additionally, teacher education curricula do not incorporate the appropriate training for the accommodations that must be made in order to educate culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students effectively. As a result, teachers continue to have difficulties meeting the demands of today's pluralistic society. Based on this premise, this exploratory study surveyed education majors participating in a summer study abroad program in Spain to determine their expectations and perceptions about the program with a focus on the sociocultural and linguistic dimensions of the prism model. Findings revealed that the students' expectations were in consonance with the framework, indicating their dispositions toward acquiring the required knowledge and skills for the implementation of biography-driven instruction (BDI). The data also revealed the appropriateness of the study abroad program for preparing educators for BDI.

Handbook of Research on Efficacy and Implementation of Study Abroad Programs for P-12 Teachers

The research presented in this chapter critically analyzes undergraduate preservice teachers' perceptions of their study abroad experience in Hong Kong and Macau to better understand the potential as well as the challenges of preparing teachers for a diverse and global society. Drawing on critical analysis of both study abroad and preservice teacher education, we interrogate the potential for study abroad as a means to prepare culturally responsive teachers, and then critically read the preservice teachers' perceptions of their experience. Results include both beneficial outcomes of study abroad to disrupt the competitive themes dominant in global education, as well as potential limitations of short term study abroad experiences as a method for establishing sustained global networks of educators. Considerations for those developing study abroad are presented and recommendations for study abroad planning are suggested.

Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation

Baecher's edited volume, Study Abroad for Pre-service and In-service Teachers: Transformative Learning on a Global Scale, provides an overview of research being conducted in pre-service and in-service teacher study abroad programs worldwide, referred to throughout the book more simply as teacher study abroad. The 273-page book contains 18 chapters from 43 contributors. It is divided into three sections with Section 1 covering chapters 1-7; Section 2, chapters 8-14; and Section 3, chapters 15-18. As a study abroad researcher and former pre-service study abroad program director, I was eager to read this book, as study abroad in professional programs is understudied in comparison with study abroad in language learning contexts, therefore this book promised to shed light on findings unique to the profession of teaching. Section 1 highlights the role of intentionality in instructional design in teacher study abroad toward goals of global competence, global citizenship, and global readiness. These goals are common among programs with strong structural analysis and strong intercultural foci (Shultz, 2010). In other words, the authors speak to the need for education to "engage students as critical thinkers able to understand the historical, cultural, and socioeconomic processes and structures" and "learn how to engage in the relations that are surfaced in a globalized world… to transform these structures" (p. 16). Strengths of this section are its mix of outgoing (Chapters 1-4; 7) and incoming (Chapters 5-6) desti

International Education Journal, 2004

Many universities provide overseas student teaching yet little is known as to what knowledge, skills, and dispositions university students have prior to arriving in their host country as well as after their return to their home country. This article considers several key issues and suggests factors that schools of education should consider when planning, developing and providing prospective teachers with an exposure to international student teaching abroad beyond educational tourism.