Internationalizing Teacher Education in the United States Beverly
Internationalizing Teacher Education in the United States Beverly D. Shaklee, Ed. D. Director, Center for International Education George Mason University College of Education & Human Development
Four target areas Expanded views of diversity to include international global viewpoints Professional development experiences that lead to inter-cultural competence for faculty and students Foreign language & intercultural communication requirements Use of curriculum, technology and other resources to expand the ‘view from Virginia’ in relation to the world B. Shaklee, 2013 2
U. S. Teachers Primarily from western or westernized nations Primarily English speaking < 10% another language Primarily prepared in western models of teacher education Primarily prepared to teach in the English medium Primarily female: ratio is 3 to 1 Primarily Caucasian Primarily live away from the school community B. Shaklee, 2013 3
Comparisons Areas of potential conflict Teaching Practices Western Perspectives Personal Control Change Time/Control Equality Individualism Self- Help Competition Future Orientation Action/Work B. Shaklee, 2013 Other Countries Fate Tradition Human Interaction Rank/Status/Hierarchy Group’s Welfare Birthright Inheritance Cooperation Past Orientation “Being” Cushner, Mc. Clelland, Safford 2013 4
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Our students Virginia, 135 school districts = 1, 250, 852 students 36. 7% are on free/reduced lunch 14. 4% speak a language other than English at home 7% receive ELL services 41% classified as ‘minority’ 11% were born internationally 22. 9% are under the age of 18 B. Shaklee, 2013 6
With a partner What are ways in which your professional development programs or teacher education programs attempt to bridge the gap between teachers and students? B. Shaklee, 2013 7
Vivian Gyssin Paley “ It is often hard to learn from people who are just like you. Too much is taken for granted. Homogeneity is fine in a bottle of milk, but in the classroom it diminishes the curiosity that ignites discovery. ” B. Shaklee, 2013 8
Where Cultures Intersect Schools and Classrooms School Culture Student Culture – norms, traditions, religion and values Teacher Culture “Best” predisposed to regard diversity as interesting “Worst” diversity = deficit “Seldom” is diversity seen as exciting and enriching Cushner, Mc. Clelland, Safford, 2012 B. Shaklee, 2013 9
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Many good teachers are wishing that the diversity they see in September will somehow fade away as the class becomes a group. ” B. Shaklee, 2013 10
Multicultural-International Teachers who are prepared for multicultural settings normally focus on diverse domestic population, which may include some students who have recently immigrated…it is not clear how the knowledge and skills used with national students apply to international students or their families. Levy, 2007 B. Shaklee, 2013 11
International - multicultural Social justice MME Domestic US Civil Rights Era Race B. Shaklee, 2013 Socio Economic Status IE Post WW I League of Nations New “American” Populations Peace Activism Cross-national 12 Social Justice Mobility Globalization
Expanding views Cross-cultural experiences Knowledge of diverse cultures Understanding of globalization Intercultural Communication skills Enhanced ability to work with and learn from people different from themselves Shared belief in values that support diversity, equity and global connectedness Merryfield, 2001 B. Shaklee, 2013 13
International STATE State of Virginia – what does it mean to be a citizen? NATIONAL United States of America – what does it mean to live and contribute to a democratic society? INTERNATIONAL The World – what does it mean to be inter-dependent with the world? What is my responsibility? B. Shaklee, 2013 14
Low-Performing Schools There is a chance that international curriculum and practices will be seen as only for high performing schools creating an opportunity gap. There is research that indicates children in lowperforming schools that internationalize the curriculum “students perceive themselves as modern day explorers” raising their motivation and performance (Asia Society, 2008). B. Shaklee, 2013 15
Teachers The focus has been on preparing our students for the 21 st Century – for a global and inter-connected world. Who is preparing the teachers? Programs ‘dance’ around terms such as social justice, culturally responsive classrooms, global citizens… There is much language but little practice. There is little implementation in teacher education programs. Shaklee & Baily, 2012 B. Shaklee, 2013 16
In small group How do you foster the inter-cultural competence of your administrators and teachers? How do you study the values, roles, traditions of the international students you serve? What is the role of international parents in your school? How have you moved beyond “food, festivals and fun” approach to culture? B. Shaklee, 2013 17
Becoming inter-culturally competent Able to manage the stress associated with intercultural interactions Able to communicate verbally and nonverbally across cultures Able to establish and maintain positive new relationships across cultures (Brislin & Yoshida, 1994) B. Shaklee, 2013 18
An Example: Okay? U. S. A. & U. K = okay Japan = money Russia = zero Brazil = insult B. Shaklee, 2013 19
Pyramid of Intercultural Competence – Initial Affective – respect, openness and curiosity is a pre-requisite to developing Cognitive - cultural self-awareness, culturegeneral as well as culture-specific knowledge And Skills sets such as: Listening, observing, and interpreting Deardorff, 2006 B. Shaklee, 2013 20
Pyramid of Intercultural Competence (Deardorff) All of which are needed prior to being able to develop a more enhanced behavioral repertoire of: flexibility, empathy, adaptability, and more culturally competent communication and interaction B. Shaklee, 2013 21
Inter-culturally minded Ultimately, people who are interculturally minded move from the avoidance or tolerance of difference to a respect and appreciation of difference, and from an unconscious ethnocentrism to a more conscious awareness of their own and others’ cultures (Bennett, 1993). B. Shaklee, 2013 22
Inter-culturally competent Instead of being conscious of what not to do to avoid racism, sexism, and other prejudices, they understand what they can do to create respectful, productive intercultural relationships. Inter-culturally effective people, thus, are proactive in nature and seek out diverse perspectives and contributions when making decisions and taking actions (Cushner, 2012). B. Shaklee, 2013 23
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (Bennett) Ethnocentric Ethnorelative ◦ Denial ◦ Acceptance ◦ Defense ◦ Adaptability ◦ Minimization ◦ Integration Where do your teachers stand? How do you help them? B. Shaklee, 2013 24
Cultural Identity of a Teacher Emerges out of one’s cultural upbringing that is carried throughout one’s life and relations with others. Identity motivates and colors the social dynamics of teaching as well as pedagogical approaches used to teach. If a teacher does not reflect on the aspects of culture upon his/her identity the ramifications on students can be immense. Romano & Cushner, 2007 B. Shaklee, 2013 25
To be an inter-culturally competent teacher Openness to other ways of living, of speaking and of interacting Propelled to be curious and then to search Non-judgmental, understands that comparisons lead to judgments Able to go beyond comfort zone of the familiar Able to tolerate ambiguity Able to understand empathize with a diverse range of people Able to speak another language fluently B. Shaklee, 2013 26
Strategies to enhance Conversational Partner Cross-cultural pairing to better understand another culture Meet six to eight times during the term (online) Discussions range from reading newspapers together to family to “how to get things done” Sharing at a general level/level of comfort Changes in substantive knowledge of culture, personal understandings and interpersonal relationships (Wilson & Flournoy, 2007) B. Shaklee, 2013 27
Strategies to enhance Curriculum development teams Recognize teachers may have come from pedagogical approaches that are “tell & show” & highly westernized Design teams that can scaffold teacher’s ability to become a “curriculum maker” Focus then becomes on perpetual inquiry and research in order to create learning around specific concepts and designing activities to foster those concepts B. Shaklee, 2013 28
Strategies to Enhance Foster study abroad or joint international student teaching placements for candidates Fulbright Teacher Programs – http: //fulbrightteacherabroad. org Foster immersion programs within another culture Foster teacher education study abroad Foster World Language for Teachers B. Shaklee, 2013 29
What does it take? An inter-culturally competent faculty National standards for teacher education that expand our boundaries Teacher candidates – high academic standards Different clinical experiences Internationalized coursework that includes knowledge of cultural heritage, intercultural competence, immersion in a significantly different culture, world language skills B. Shaklee, 2013 30
To have Children of the 21 st Century B. Shaklee, 2013 31
We must first have teachers of the 21 st Century Are we preparing teachers for the 21 st Century? B. Shaklee, 2013 32
Byram, M. (2008). From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Chapters 1 and 3 (pp. 5 – 18, 4354). Buffalo: Multilingual Matters. Byram, M. , & Feng, A. (2005). Teaching and researching intercultural competence. In E. Hinkel (Ed. ) Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 911 -930), Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Cushner, K. & Brennan, S. (2007). Intercultural Student Teaching. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, Lunenberg, M. , & Willemse, M. , (2006). Research and professional development of teacher educators. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(1), 81 -98. Dooly, M. , & Villaneuva, M. (2006). Internationalisation as a key dimension to teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(2), 223 -240. Duckworth, R. L. , Walker Levy, L. , & Levy, J. (2005). Present and future teachers of the world’s children: How internationally-minded are they? Journal of Research in International Education, 4, 279 - 311. Fox, R. K. (2012). Critical languages: Working with world language students in the classroom. In B. Shaklee and S. Bailey, (Eds. ), Internationalizing U. S. teacher education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. B. Shaklee, 2013 33
Fox, R. , & Diaz-Greenberg, R. (2006). Culture, multiculturalism, and world language standards: Toward a discourse of dissonance. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29 (3), 401 -422. Goncalves, M. , & Andrade, A. (2007). Connecting languages: The use of the portfolio as a means of exploring and overcoming frontiers within the curriculum. European Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), 195 -213. Heyward, M. (2002) From international to intercultural: Redefining the international school for a globalized world. Journal of Research in International Education, 9(1), 9 - 32. Lam, W. S. E (2006). Culture and learning in the context of globalization: Research directions. Review of Research in Education, (Special Issue on Rethinking Learning: What Counts as Learning and What Learning Counts) 30, 213 -237 Sercu, L. (2005). Foreign language teachers and the implementation of intercultural education: A comparative investigation of the professional self-concepts and teaching practices of Belgian teachers of English, French and German. European Journal of Teacher Education, 28(1), 87 -105 B. Shaklee, 2013 34
Shaklee, B. (Spring, 2011). Leading for Diversity. Inter. Ed: The Journal of the Association for the Advancement of International Education, Vol. , 38 (112), 22 -24. Shaklee, B. and Baily, S. (Eds. ) (2012). Internationalizing Teacher Education in the United States, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education Publishing Group. Vasquez, O. (2006). Cross-national explorations of sociocultural research on learning. Review of Research in Education (Special Issue on Rethinking Learning: What Counts as Learning and What Learning Counts) 30, 33 -64. Wang, E. , Lin, E. , Spalding, E. , Odell, S. , & Klecka, C. (2011). Understanding teacher education in an era of globalization. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(2), 115 -120. Wiseman, A. , & Fox, R. (2010). Supporting teachers’ development of cultural competence through teacher research. Action in Teacher Education, (32) 4, pp. 26 -37. DOI: 10. 1080/01626620. 2010. 549708 Zhao, Y. (2010). Preparing globally competent teachers: A new imperative for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(5), 422 -431. B. Shaklee, 2013 35
Resources B. Shaklee, 2013 American Council on Education, http: //www. acent. edu Asia Society, http: //asiasociety. org/education-learning Global Issues Network, www. global-issues-network. org Global Teacher Education, www. globalteachereducation. org Kidz Connect, http: //www. kidzconnect. org Longview Foundation, www. longviewfdn. org Student News Action Network, http: //newsaction. tigweb. org Teacher Education Goes Global, www. teachereducationgoesglobal. org 36
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