Confronting and Expanding: Impact of International Professional Experience on Student Teachers

• In Event: 32.043 - Opportunities for Learning From Participation in International Professional Experience

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of a University International Professional Experience in Israel, on Australian and Israeli student teachers who participated. It examines the knowledge and skills gained from the placement and how this learning can contribute to their future development as teachers. Data revealed that student teachers described knowledge and skills gained in the following areas: 1) intercultural knowledge, awareness, and skills, such as respect and appreciation for different cultures, and the ability to teach students from diverse cultural backgrounds; 2) self-reflection as a result of being challenged by a very different way of teaching and learning; and 3) ability to communicate across language barriers. This study demonstrated that an international student teaching experience, embedded in an international partnership between schools of education, enhanced teacher education by providing multiple layered opportunities for transnational cross-cultural encounters, which were beneficial for both visiting and host student teachers. International student teaching experiences give student teachers intercultural knowledge and skills, as well as increased self-understanding and self-awareness.

Author

• David Mittelberg, Oranim Academic College of Education