Supporting Student Teaching Abroad for Critical Global Awareness

• In Event: Culture, Race, and Language for Teaching and Curriculum in the Field Experience

Abstract

This study explores the effect of teaching abroad experiences on student teachers’ cultural awareness and teaching practice. This study uses a mixed method, administering the MyCAP survey to prospective teachers before they teach abroad and then again when they return to gauge changes in their cultural awareness, and conducting classroom observation of the prospective teachers’ teaching before and after their study abroad experience to examine the extent to which they bring their teaching abroad experiences and cultural awareness into their teaching. The results indicate the importance of teaching abroad in expanding prospective teachers’ cultural awareness, and the importance of adequate preparation and support in ensuring the greatest impact of teaching abroad experiences on both cultural awareness and teaching practice.

Author

• Katrina Liu, University of Nevada - Las Vegas