Internationalising teacher education at home: developing empathy through the sense of otherness in language learning

ABSTRACT

This study explored how Chinese and Scottish student-teachers from two case-study universities perceived their experiences in foreign language learning in both formal and informal contexts within their home countries, and how the status of a foreign language learner shaped their empathy for culturally and linguistically diverse pupils through a qualitative questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Drawing on transformative learning theory and its relation to empathy, this study provides a nuanced understanding of how the experience of a language other allows student-teachers to engage with otherness, experience affective sharing, adopt alternative perspectives, and demonstrate empathetic concerns in practices where cultural diversity is apparent. Therefore, we advocate moving student-teachers beyond language acquisition, encouraging them to embrace challenges associated with assuming the position of a language other. This lends insights into the promotion of foreign language learning as a viable internationalisation strategy that benefits all student-teachers by fostering their empathy towards diverse students.

KEYWORDS:

• Internationalising teacher education at home
• foreign language learning
• otherness
• empathy

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of our participants.

Disclosure statement

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

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The study is jontly funded by the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau, the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. It is part of the research of the Primary Education Innovation Team.

Notes on contributors

Huaping Li

Huaping Li is lecturer in Teacher Education at Foreign Languages College, Shanghai Normal University. Her primary focus lies in preparing teachers for a global and multicultural context. She is particularly keen on teaching and researching interconnected themes, including ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity, educational in/exclusion, and the internationalisation of teacher education.

Cristina Costa

Cristina Costa is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Durham University. She has a strong interest in educational and digital practices and inequalities. She is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of education and emergent social phenomena through different social theory lenses in both her research and teaching.