Teaching abroad during initial teacher education: the effects as perceived by recently qualified teachers on their preparedness for teaching

ABSTRACT

Opportunities for pre-service teachers to participate during their initial teacher education (ITE) in teaching-abroad experiences, where they spend time teaching in a foreign country, have become increasingly popular. However, studies to date have collected data during or soon after the participant’s return. Little is known about how recently qualified teachers (RQTs) who participated in such experiences during the ITE perceive their benefits. By collecting and analysing reflective writings of ten RQTs in Hong Kong, who participated in a teaching-abroad experience in China, this small-scale study sought to explore its impact on their perceived preparedness for their current roles in their home context. The findings suggest that the teachers feel that the experience added to their preparedness, in areas such as lesson preparation and planning, teaching confidence and flexibility and professional collaborations. The RQTs attributed these benefits to the unfamiliar teaching context and the additional teaching practice that the experience provided, as well as the opportunity to work closely with peers, course tutors and teachers in China. The study adds to the growing teaching-abroad literature by including the perspectives of RQTs, providing further justification for including such experiences in ITE programme curriculums.

KEYWORDS:

• Teaching-abroad
• international professional experience
• initial teacher education
• recently qualified teachers
• pre-service teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Luke Moorhouse

Benjamin Luke Moorhouse is a lecturer in English Language Education at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. He received his doctorate from the University of Exeter, UK. His research focuses on initial teacher education, teaching young English language learners and the role of technology in English language teaching and learning. His works have appeared in international journals, including Journal of Education for Teaching, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education and Asia-Pacific Education Researcher.