International service-learning: possibilities for developing intercultural competence and culturally responsive pedagogies

ABSTRACT

Globalisation and human mobility have contributed to increased student diversity in Australian schools and globally. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmesare under pressure to prepare pre-service teachers (PST) who can respond to the educational and cultural needs of diverse student cohorts. International study tours and service-learning programs are conceived as means for developing interculturally competent “classroom-ready” teachers. This paper reports on a New Colombo Plan water safety/swimming programmedesigned and delivered by pre-service teachers in a rural Fijian community. Findings indicate that immersion as “other” was important for building empathy and appreciation of the lived realties of linguistically and culturally diverse Indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian children. Additionally, findings reveal various ways by which PST enacted cultural competence in teaching the water safety/swimming program. Where international service learning is not always be an option, we argue for multiple opportunities for PST to work with children within diverse communities and cultural life-worlds. At stake is the potential of ITE programs to enable the development of pedagogical practices for meeting the cultural and educational needs of all children We believe these calls have relevance for ITE educators and their programs in Australia and the broader Asia-Indo-Pacific region.

KEYWORDS:

• International service-learning
• intercultural competence
• culturally responsive pedagogies

Acknowledgments

The authors are members of the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI) at the University of South Australia and acknowledge the support of their research by CRESI.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Generally, descendants of labourers indentured to British colonisers

2. Baat Chit: conversation, discussion (Fiji-Hindi)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alison Wrench

Dr. Alison Wrench is a Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education at the University of South Australia. Her research centres on socially-critical pedagogies inclusion and just schooling outcomes.

Bec Neill

Dr. Bec Neill is a lecturer at the University of South Australia. Her research provides a view of learner well-being, culturally responsive and trauma-informed pedagogies and integrated digital technologies.

Alexandra Diamond

Alexandra Diamond is a lecturer at the University of South Australia. Her doctoral research is on very young children’s language socialisation in a rural Indo-Fijian community.