Intercultural Communication in Story Circles: Fostering Intercultural Competencies in Teacher Candidates

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Research on Teacher and School Leader Preparation: Alternative Certification, Intercultural Competencies, Retention, and Emergency Management (Table 13)

Abstract

This study investigates how intercultural communication in three Story Circles workshops impacted the development of intercultural competencies among pre-service teacher candidates in social studies. Through thematic analysis of critical reflections written by teacher candidates about their participatory experience during Story Circles five themes coalesced--listening, empathy, stepping out of comfort zone, transcending bias, and transformative face-to-face interaction. Given the fact that Story Circles was introduced in 2020 as a potential practice in developing intercultural competencies there is a paucity of research in teacher education regarding the ways Story Circles can or cannot foster intercultural competence among teacher candidates. This study fills this lacuna in the knowledge.

Author

• Nayomi Gunasekara Field, Ohio University