Preservice teachers’ understandings of social justice within the context of study abroad programs

ABSTRACT

How do preservice teachers (PSTs) understand social justice within the context of education-focused study abroad programs? How might traveling across cultural borders facilitate PSTs'™ development of a social justice mindset? Drawing on previous studies and examples from an ongoing study of 6 annual, short-term study abroad programs, this article explores how PSTs reported experiences related to social justice and suggests implications for study abroad programs in teacher education. We propose that the context, curriculum, and co-curricular activities of a study abroad program have the potential to impact how PSTs conceptualize social justice and that an intentional focus on context-specific issues of social justice from a critical perspective has the potential to both broaden and deepen their conceptualizations. We suggest approaches from the programs that provided opportunities for PSTs to develop nuanced understandings of social justice in education and showed promise for preparing PSTs with global competency to serve diverse students.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional Resources

1. Longview Foundation. (2008). Teacher preparation for the global age: The imperative for change. Falls Church, VA: Author. Retrieved from https://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Teacher-Prep-for-Global-Age-.aspx

As economic, social, and technological transformations link us in unprecedented ways, the critical role of teachers in preparing young people for a new global reality has never been clearer. The Longview Foundation brought together leaders in education, government, and other sectors to examine what is currently being done in schools, colleges, and departments of education to prepare future teachers for the new global reality. In this report, the authors share promising practices that are currently being implemented in US schools, colleges, and departments of education to develop globally competent teachers and propose a framework for internationalizing the education of all pre-service teachers.

2. Palmer, D. K., & Menard-Warwick, J. (2012). Short-term study abroad for Texas preservice teachers: On the road from empathy to critical awareness. Multicultural Education, 19, 17–26.

Palmer and Menard-Warwick investigated the connection between preservice teachers’ (PSTs) conceptualization of empathy and skills and the development of critical consciousness. The data included dialogue journals, coursework, pre- and post-surveys, and follow-up interviews conducted three years after PSTs completed a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) course during a one-month study abroad program. The authors found that while PSTs understanding of critical consciousness was not significantly present in their reflections, they were able to express empathy toward their future students, thus leading to the development of a “critical cultural awareness.”

3. Sharma, S., Phillion, J., Rahatzad, J., & Sasser, H. L. (Eds.). (2014). Internationalizing teacher education for social justice: Theory, research, and practice. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

In Internationalizing Teacher Education for Social Justice: Theory, Research, and Practice, editors Suniti Sharma, JoAnn Phillion, Jubin Rahatzad, and Hannah L. Sasser presented a collection of personal, passionate, and participatory global perspectives of teacher educators on internationalizing teacher education for social justice. The reader will encounter each author’s personal and professional journey into global classrooms for internationalizing teacher education and supporting future teachers in developing competencies necessary for addressing the academic needs of diverse K-12 classrooms.