“I Have More Awareness of Myself in Context”: A Comparative Analysis of Preservice Teachers’ Engagement With Race in Study Abroad

• In Event: Exploring Race and Identity in International Education Experiences

Abstract

Objectives:

Pre-service teacher education abroad has been suggested to influence one’s intercultural competence, teaching perspectives, independence, confidence, and help develop a multicultural and ethnorelative worldview (Authorc, 2021; Putman & Byker, 2021), However, given that white participants still constitute 68% of all study abroad participants in US higher education (Open Doors, 2022), and participants of color experience racial issues abroad differently than their white counterparts (Chang, 2017; Talburt & Stewart, 1999) there is a need for a critical approach to study abroad that includes a careful analysis of the role of race in this experience (Sharma, 2020). Although earlier research suggests that education abroad experiences for pre-service teachers can help interrogate issues of white privilege and challenge previously held biases (Addleman et al., 2014; Trilokekar & Kukar, 2011), questions remain about how these experiences influence pre-service teachers’ perspectives about race in educational contexts, engagement with members of different races and cultures, and efforts towards a more racially just world. Moreover, there are few comparative studies of pre-service teacher education abroad programs that focus on these issues (Authord, 2021). This study aims to address these concerns by examining the experiences of students in two different programs and the ways in which their international experiences impacted their racial thinking.

Method and Data Sources:

This paper presents research conducted with pre-service teachers who spent a semester abroad in either London, England or in Cape Town, South Africa. Both programs are housed in the same teacher education program at a large northeastern university. The international track for pre-service teachers in this school of education is a year-long experience including pre-departure coursework, an in-country school internship, intercultural coursework, and a re-entry semester program. Data include results from the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) (Hammer, 2012), a tool to measure one’s orientation to cultural difference, as well as focus groups and semi-structured interviews with student participants. Interview and focus group data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Creswell, 2007).

Results:

The results of this study shed light on the ways that program-level differences, such as country, school context and program emphases may impact the particular learning outcomes of participants. Participants in the Cape Town program discussed race more in-depth and grappled with notions of cultural appropriation. Participants in London discussed culture more often than race and grappled with notions of class.

Scholarly Significance:

This study offers important insight into the specific differences found in two programs. The findings also offer crucial implications for program design and ways to support impactful racial learning for pre-service teachers. Further, this study imagines new possibilities in teacher education for utilizing pre-service teacher education abroad to equip teacher candidates for the demands of increasingly diverse and inclusive classrooms.

Authors

• Michele Back, University of Connecticut

• David M. Moss, University of Connecticut

• Douglas K. Kaufman, University of Connecticut