Towards a Culturally Reflective Practitioner: Pre-Service Student Teachers in Teaching Practicums Abroad

Towards a Culturally Reflective Practitioner: Pre-Service Student Teachers in Teaching Practicums Abroad

Karin Vogt
Copyright: © 2020 |Pages: 55
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1607-2.ch006
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Abstract

Since 2007, it has been possible for student teachers based in Europe to complete a teaching practicum at a school abroad, supported by the European flagship mobility programme ERASMUS. The focus of this study was on 35 undergraduate preservice teachers who completed a three-month teaching practicum placement in the UK and Ireland. Data from reflective reports was content analysed and completed with focus group discussions six months after the students' stay abroad. On the basis of the reflective reports, a case study was additionally collated that focussed on their intercultural learning development. The findings indicate an interconnection of linguistic, intercultural, and professional development with professional development as the most prominent and the intercultural development as a rather neglected one. Suggestions on how to design a formal instruction element based on the principles of cultural (peer) mentoring and guided cultural reflection as part of the teaching practice experience are outlined.
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Background

Collentine (2009, p. 218) defined study abroad as the ‘context [which] takes place in countries where the L2 enjoys an important sociological and functional status, entailing a combination of planned curriculum and host family’. While this definition of a study abroad context is rather limited to university undergraduate students pursuing a more or less rigorous degree program, I would like to argue for a broader definition of the term that encompasses different formats of instruction in the framework of a curriculum and also other forms of housing arrangements. A working definition for this chapter would be for study abroad to be part of a university degree program that enhances professionalization and global citizenship through increased opportunities for intercultural and experiential learning, among others.

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