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Inviting the World into Northeast Ohio: Globalizing Local School Districts through International Visitor Teacher Programs

Wed, April 17, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Bay (Level 1), Bayview B

Proposal

American school classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. Additionally, technology, and social media specifically, have moved us toward a world that is more globalized and interconnected. American students need schools and teachers that can help them navigate this international and multi-cultural landscape.

The Ohio Department of Education addresses cultural competence (indirectly) in the Social Science learning standards for Ohio k-12 students. Under the theme of Contemporary World Issues, the “dynamics of global interactions among nations and regions present issues that affect all humanity.” This is to say Ohioans need to be prepared to interact with people from diverse places and traditions, whether or not their school’s student body is diverse or not. Research shows that many educators and their students desire to increase their intercultural competence (Longview Foundation, 2008 and UNESCO, 2013) needed for global citizenship. Meeting and collaborating with individuals from other cultural backgrounds can produce positive learning experiences and increase intercultural understanding between teaching professionals from different countries. (Wong, 2015 and Boynton Hauerwas & Creamer, 2018)

The goal of our presentation is to share the experience of host teachers and school districts during their collaboration with an international visitor program at one large Northeast Ohio public university. These partnerships have spanned a dozen years through different grant programs earned by faculty and staff in the College of Education. This pilot study interviewed a sample of several local school districts’ personnel to understand what was gained through the opportunity to host international teachers.


This pilot study explores the foundational question, “What do American teachers, schools, and students gain from international visiting teachers with whom they are hosting for 4-6 months?”

The theoretical framework was limited by the lack of research on this topic. Therefore, we used the research of intercultural education by Cushner and Mahon (2009) that discusses the need for pre-service (and we posit, currently practicing teachers) to not only receive intercultural education training, but also exposure to intercultural friendships and interactions associated with higher scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

Researchers will collect and analyze qualitative data from interviews and focus groups of host teachers; field coordinators; superintendents; other district leaders; and faculty and staff from the grant holding university. Initial analysis will be conducted through transcript open coding. Through subsequent analytical memo writing and review of focused coding, we will identify themes. From there we will establish our findings and draw conclusions.

As Cushner and Mahon (2009) assert, “…many teachers continue to graduate from preparatory institutions and settle into careers without the requisite competencies to ensure the educational equity that enables all students to attain their personal and professional goals in this global postmodern world.” Ultimately, through sharing the findings of this pilot case study during our presentation, we hope to encourage cross-cultural discussion and exploration on the significance of international visitor programs in not only Northeast Ohio but throughout the United States. Additionally, researchers can pursue future studies related to classroom equity, teacher training and professional development related to intercultural competency.

Authors