What is Host Family Placement

The population of students in the United States is becoming increasingly diverse. At the same time, we live in highly interconnected global society with complex world problems. Thus, teachers need to prepare students to live and work collaboratively with people, locally and globally, from diverse background. Yet, how do in-service and preservice teachers support students if they have had limited experiences interacting with and understanding people from diverse backgrounds? This chapter describes a four-week summer study-abroad program in Italy, in which preservice teacher lived with a host family and observed and taught in an Italian school. It presents findings about what preservice teachers learned from (1) living with a host family, (2) observing in an Italian school, (3) becoming a culturally and linguistically diverse learner, and (4) teaching.