Donna Tangen

The complexities of supporting Asian international pre‐service teachers as they undertake practicum

Increasing numbers of Asian international students are choosing to undertake their tertiary studies in English‐speaking countries. For universities, international students are an important source of revenue. However, Asian international students face multiple challenges in adapting to a foreign culture, understanding the expectations of their role, and adjusting to language, communication and cultural differences. These challenges are manifested, in particular, during practicum or field experience. This paper investigated the concerns of twenty Asian pre‐service teachers before and after their practicum in Australian schools by drawing upon data from focus group interviews. Although language barriers and cultural differences were identified concerns before the practicum, concerns about their relationship with their supervising teachers and the limited time in which they had to learn also emerged after the practicum. Whilst the findings are limited to the present study, implications for supporting Asian international pre‐service teachers during practicum are discussed.

Incorporating Translation in Qualitative Studies: Two Case Studies in Education.

Cross-language qualitative research in education continues to increase. However, there has been inadequate discussion in the literature concerning the translation process that ensures research trustworthiness applicable for bilingual researchers. Informed by the literature on evaluation criteria for qualitative data translation, this paper compares two different procedures for incorporating translation in education qualitative research to provide a clear depiction of the complexities involved in translating qualitative data and the strengths and weaknesses of each procedure. To maintain the trustworthiness of the qualitative research, it is necessary to minimise translation errors, provide detailed accounts of the translation process, involve more than one translator and remain open to scrutiny from those seeking to access the translation process. Taking into account the resource constraints often faced by novice qualitative researchers, this paper provides some strategies that can be employed in similar contexts.

Building Intercultural Competence One “Patch” at a Time

This paper describes a program called Patches that was implemented to assist a group of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers to enhance their intercultural competence through their involvement in a series of reciprocal learning activities. Each learning experience was considered a “patch” that eventually created a “quilt of intercultural learning.” The purpose of this study was to enhance the intercultural competence of domestic and international students through organized intercultural activities, through a series of reflective writing sessions, and mutual engagement on a common project. The effectiveness of the Patches program was analysed in accordance with Deardorff’s elements of intercultural competence. The qualitative findings indicate that both cohorts of preservice teachers showed elements of intercultural competence through participation in the program, with both groups reporting a deeper appreciation and understanding of how to communicate more effectively in intercultural contexts.

Shaping global teacher identity in a short-term mobility programme

ABSTRACT This article explores the shaping of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers’ possible selves in a short-term mobility programme. With the theory of possible selves, individuals imagine who they will become based on their past and current selves. The focus of the research was on pre-service teachers’ possible selves as global and culturally responsive teachers. The experiential learning through participation in the programme allowed participants to consider their future possible selves as teachers with a deeper understanding of diverse learners’ needs and how they might strive to address these needs in their own classrooms. The scaffolding of reflections in the programme encouraged the pre-service teachers to take on multiple perspectives, to step outside their comfort zones and in many ways to see the world from different eyes. The research found that through experiential learning in the short-term mobility programme both the Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers gained in positioning their cultural selves currently and as future teachers, suggesting that there is merit in utilising the theory of possible selves in future research in the area of shaping teacher identity.

An Introduction to Education Research Methods: Exploring the Learning Journey of Pre-Service Teachers in a Transnational Programme.

Internationally there is interest in developing the research skills of pre-service teachers as a means of ongoing professional renewal with a distinct need for systematic and longitudinal investigation of student learning. The current study takes a unique perspective by exploring the research learning journey of pre-service teachers participating in a transnational degree programme. Using a case-study design that includes both a self-reported and direct measure of research knowledge, the results indicate a progression in learning, as well as evidence that this research knowledge is continued or maintained when the pre-service teachers return to their home university. The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service teacher research training and transnational programmes.

Video-stimulated recall in cross-cultural research in education: a case study in Vietnam

ABSTRACT This paper examines incorporating video-stimulated recall (VSR) as a data collection technique in cross-cultural research. With VSR, participants are invited to watch video-recordings of particular events that they are involved in; they then recall their thoughts in relation to their observations of their behaviour in relation to the event. The research draws on a larger Ph.D. project completed at an Australian university that explored Vietnamese lecturers’ beliefs about learner autonomy. In cross-cultural research, using the VSR technique provided significant challenges including time constraints of participants, misunderstandings of the VSR protocol and the possibility of participants’ losing face when reflecting on their teaching episodes. Adaptations to the VSR technique were required to meet the cultural challenges specific to this population, indicating a need for flexibility and awareness of the cultural context for research.

The Global Citizen: Exploring Intercultural Collaborations and the Lived Experience of Australian and Malaysian Students During a Short-Term Study Tour in Malaysia

This chapter draws from research on the ways in which a group of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers reflected on their collaborative experiences during a short-term outbound mobility programme in Malaysia, funded through the Australian Government’s Study Overseas Short-Term Mobility Program. The research focused on how both groups of pre-service teachers reflected on themselves as culturally responsive global citizens during and after the two-week programme in Kuala Lumpur. Findings suggest that from initial ethnocentric assumptions, the Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers developed a respect for cultural difference through their intercultural encounters with each other, gained deeper insights into their cultural selves as global citizens, and reflected on how global perspectives can be shaped through regional contexts in the Asia–Pacific.

Work Placement for International Student Programmes (WISP): A Model of Effective Practice

With a marked increase in the number of international students enrolling in university programs across the globe it is important that personal and professional experiences are positive. Of interest is the workplace component of international students’ study programs, as these experiences provide opportunities for students to socialise into new workplaces and cultural contexts. This chapter presents a theoretical model that takes into account the relationship between the concepts of internationalisation, professional socialisation, reflection and cultural development. It explores Knight’s (1999) work on internationalisation; research on personal and professional socialisation; effective reflective practice; and the notion of cultural development (Wells, 2000). We argue that an enhanced ethos approach, together with strong personal and professional student and staff agency and reflective practice, enhances the work placement experience. If all these elements are taken into account and the interrelationship between them is understood, we contend that it is more likely for workplace experiences to be positive and meaningful for all stakeholders.

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of self as inclusive educators

ABSTRACT Teacher education institutions play a key role in preparing pre-service teachers to graduate as competent and confident inclusive educators. Seeking to understand pre-service teachers’ current perceptions of diversity and inclusion, and how they perceived themselves as future inclusive educators, this qualitative study employed inductive analysis to explore pre-service teachers’ self-perceptions as inclusive teachers, utilising the theory of possible selves. Forty-six (n = 46) of 292 pre-service teachers enrolled in an inclusive education subject in a graduate entry teacher education programme in eastern Australia participated in this study. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers had developed good theoretical understanding of inclusive education through their coursework. However, their development of possible selves as inclusive educators was less well-defined in that they had difficulty extending their understandings of who they might be as inclusive teachers beyond their coursework samples. This difficulty in identifying their cultural selves beyond a stereotypical norm of who a ‘classroom teacher’ is indicates a need for more and extensive time for pre-service teachers to develop their professional identities as inclusive educators.

Service Learning in a Virtual Classroom

This project connected Australian preservice teachers with Malaysian and Fijian partners through engagement in a virtual classroom. The purpose of the virtual classroom was to assist Australian preservice teachers in developing intercultural awareness from a global perspective by co-creating curriculum artefacts with Malaysian and Fijian partners. Participants connected via Edmodo, Facebook, Skype, and e-mail although most connections were conducted via Facebook, as this was the preservice teachers’ most common day-to-day communication format. Inductive analysis of qualitative data revealed that the Australian preservice teachers were challenged to work online with people they did not know and who represented a culture they knew little about. Nevertheless, these preservice teachers also described that working with their international partners caused them to look inward to discover their “deep-seated” beliefs and biases about other cultures where at times they felt they “knew it all” whilst at other times they felt that they “knew nothing at all.” Data from the current study indicate there is value in promoting intercultural educational exchanges in a virtual classroom.