On Student Voice and Social Justice: Critical Considerations in Preparing Educators Through Fieldwork in Postcolonial Nations

• In Event: Worldwide Perspectives on Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper uses student experience to address key questions regarding the purposes, ethical considerations for and effectiveness of international fieldwork in teacher education. Central to this work are the experiences of two pre-service teachers, both of whom recently completed intercultural fieldwork experiences in the US and in Tanzania and Peru, respectively. Through examination of field notebooks, reflection, and discussion, major themes or ethical dilemmas arising from their fieldwork experiences are identified and analyzed. Using Kenneth Zeichner’s (2010) goals for international teacher education, with a special emphasis on the social justice goal, their work abroad is both critiqued and affirmed. Finally, Mick Van de Berg’s (2012) recommendations regarding effective study abroad are applied to international fieldwork design for pre-service teachers.

Authors

• Anna Bost Pennell, Guilford College

• Jocelyn Foshay, Guilford College

• Fiona Lloyd-Muller, Guilford College