Student teachers in the contact zone: developing critical intercultural ‘teacherhood’ in kindergarten teacher education

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a narrative-grounded investigation ofstudent teachers' intercultural experiences and learning during their teaching practice. Our interest is in the meaning of the intercultural contact zone and how education for diversities is conceptualised and reflected upon in Finnish teacher education. Critical event narratives were collected from 10 kindergarten student teachers' teaching practice portfolios where the focus was on observing and reflecting on diversities in education. Theoretically, the study relies on Pratt's theory of contact zone. The methods and conditions for supporting student teachers' understanding of diversities in teacher education are discussed.

Keywords:

• intercultural learning
• postcolonial theory
• teacher education
• diversity
• contact zone