How does international student teaching shape the participants? Professional and personal perspectives and decisions

Abstract

For valid educational and cultural reasons, many teacher education institutions promote or allow some pre-service teachers to complete their student teaching experiences in a different country. A select, but growing body of literature suggests positive outcomes of these unique international placements. This study extends and refines the data on the impact of overseas student teachers on those who student-taught overseas as part of an undergraduate teacher licensure program. Data collected through surveys and a focus group of alumni from one higher education institution in the US reveal the impact of these international experiences. This impact extends in several directions: professional decisions, extracurricular choices, and personal and professional cultural perspectives. Implications of these findings suggest that these types of cross-cultural experiences can support the preparation of new teachers for the increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students in P-12 public schools.