Foreign Educators Provide Feedback for the Improvement of International Student Teaching Experiences

Abstract

One need not look far in the literature to find reports on international student teaching programs and their related outcomes in terms of professional challenges overcome and new skills and insights gained. However, these reports are seldom given from the perspectives of the foreign educators themselves. Such date could provide valuable evaluation information on the success of the U.S. students regarding professional performance and other relevant aspects of the total international experience. For example, Mahan and Stachowski surveyed (1987) and interviewed (1989) educators in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, hosting U.S. student teachers, to determine those factors that contribute to the success of the overseas experiences and to acquire feedback useful in on-going program development and improvement. In an attempt to respond to these perceived needs and to update the findings of Mahan's and Stachowski's earlier reports, survey data were collected from educators in Australia, Scotland, England, and Ireland who had recently hosted U.S. student teachers enrolled in a large and popular Overseas Student Teaching Project. The foreign educators' responses to the survey proved to be candid, enlightening, and useful, as well as complementary to the data reported by program provideers, the student teachers, and home campus supervisors.