Connecting Communities: Transformative Research Exploring Host and Indigenous Community Perspectives in Preservice Teacher Education Abroad

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

A critical challenge facing educators is addressing the wide range of cultures and identities in classrooms in equitable ways. International and cross-cultural experiences have been cited as a powerful way for teachers to examine their own perspectives and challenge ethnocentric worldviews. This symposium features scholarship exploring interactions between U.S. educators abroad and members of the host nation to better understand how these unique cultural perspectives broaden views about education and the world. This collection of papers shares research from experiences spanning the globe, including Rwanda, the United Kingdom, Japan, Turkey and more. The presenters in this session will share scholarship highlighting teaching and research that investigates the interactions of participants in international and cross-cultural programs.

Sub Unit

• SIG-International Studies

Chair

• Jon Simmons, University of Connecticut

Papers

• A Mentor, Guide, and Friend: Exploring the Role of Cultural Guides in Education Abroad - Jon Simmons, University of Connecticut; David M. Moss, University of Connecticut; Helen Marx, Southern Connecticut State University

• Teaching Abroad as Cultural Negotiations - Candace M. Schlein, University of Missouri - Kansas City

• Transformative Research Exploring Cross-Cultural Educators' Understanding of Local and Global Social Justice - Bima Sapkota; Jill Annette Newton, Purdue University; JoAnn I. Phillion, Purdue University

• Cross-Cultural Lessons Learned From Inclusive Education Schools in Rwanda in the Time of COVID-19 - Wangari Gichiru, Central Connecticut State University; Benjamin Bizimana

• Adapting Teach For America to Taiwan: A Case Study of Social Entrepreneurship in a Rural Educational Setting - Mike Yuchuan Shen, National Chung Hsing University