When Cultures Collaborate: The Impact of an International Experience on a Multicultural Cohort of Preservice Teachers

• In Event: 29.066 - Intercultural Learning Following an International Teaching Experience: Preparing Intercultural Teachers for Social Justice

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the intrapersonal, interpersonal and intercultural dynamics of a study abroad program to Mexico for preservice teachers from the U.S. and Asia enrolled in a university in the southwestern United States. The focus is on how the participants learned from and adapted to diverse in-group cultures to collaborate with each other and with a third culture, the Mexican hosts, to meet the local students’ educational needs. We examine the preservice teachers’ perceptions of the cultural knowledge, attitudes, and skills they developed through the process of collaboration and how this intercultural learning enhanced their professional development as teachers and learners.

Theoretical Perspective: Research shows that an international educational experience produces cognitive and affective transformations in preservice teachers, enhancing their ability to succeed as educators in the diverse environment that is today’s American classroom. Specifically, prospective teachers who participate in international placements learn the habits of mind –the awareness, knowledge, confidence, risk-taking, flexibility, commitment, and ability to reflect-that will help their future students excel (Roose, 2001; Garii, 2008; Hayden & Thompson, 1998). This learning comes about through powerful, lengthy, direct, engaging, person-to-person interactions that create a cognitive state likely to encourage change and adaptation. The practice of collaboration among teachers can serve as a vehicle for intercultural exchange and may also improve teacher retention and satisfaction (Goddard et al., 2007), which, in turn, has been found to increase student academic achievement (Goddard et al., 2007).

Methods and Data Sources:
Two reflective samples were collected from each of 22 program participants and an open response survey was conducted, followed by semi-structured tape-recorded interviews with purposefully selected participants. Some demographic and background information was also collected, such as nationality, prior training, and teaching experience. Following data collection, all field notes and interview transcriptions were analyzed to examine common themes in an attempt to characterize the patterns of interaction between participants and the impact of both the intercultural exchange and the requisite collaboration.

Results/Initial Findings: Preliminary analysis of the initial data collected revealed themes regarding negotiation of communication and achieving success in a team-teaching environment. Participants identified numerous struggles but also great pleasure at developing strong relationships with co-teachers. Participants also identified benefits of intercultural experiences as well as collaborative teaching and indicated a desire to pursue additional opportunities to engage in both.

Scholarly Significance of the Study: There is a growing body of literature examining the experiences of inservice or novice educators who teach abroad (Roose, 2001; Garii, 2008; Hayden & Thompson, 1998). However, there are no studies involving multilingual/multicultural participants in a third-country intercultural teaching experience that also focused on the impact of the collaborative process on members of the group. We know that teachers working in an intercultural context develop an appreciation of cross-cultural differences and a critical awareness of culturally appropriate pedagogy (Gu, 2005), a necessity in a globalized world and multicultural classroom.

Authors

• Edie Cassell, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Monica Vasquez Neshyba, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Martha Robison Green, Texas A&M University

• Lynne Masel Walters, Texas A&M University