ShakleeBeverly - Continuing and Professional Education
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
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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
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Teaching Practices
Western Perspectives
Personal Control
Change
Time/Control
Equality
Individualism
Self- Help
Competition
Future Orientation
Action/Work
Comparisons
Areas of potential conflict
Other Countries
Fate
Tradition
Human Interaction
Rank/Status/Hierarchy
Group’s Welfare
Birthright Inheritance
Cooperation
Past Orientation
“Being”
Cushner, McClelland,Safford
2013
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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
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With a partner
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What are ways in which your professional development programs or teacher education programs attempt to bridge the gap between teachers and students?
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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.”
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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, McClelland, Safford, 2012
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Sara Lawrence Lightfoot
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Many good teachers are wishing that the diversity they see in
September will somehow fade away as the class becomes a
group.”
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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
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International - multicultural
Race
Social justice
MME
Domestic US Civil
Rights Era
Socio Economic
Status
New “American”
Populations
Peace Activism
Cross-national
Social Justice
IE
Post WW I
League of Nations
Mobility Globalization
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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
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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?
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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).
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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
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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?
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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)
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An Example: Okay?
U.S.A. & U.K = okay Japan = money
Russia = zero
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Brazil = insult
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
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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
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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)
.
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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 ).
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Ethnocentric
◦ Denial
◦ Defense
◦ Minimization
Where do your teachers stand?
Ethnorelative
◦ Acceptance
◦ Adaptability
◦ Integration
How do you help them?
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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
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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 and empathize with a diverse range of people
Able to speak another language fluently
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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Are we preparing teachers for the 21 st
Century?
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Byram, M. (2008). From foreign language education to education for
intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Chapters 1 and 3 (pp. 5 – 18, 43-
54). 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.
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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
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Lam, W.S.E (2006). Culture and learning in the context of globalization:
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Shaklee, B. (Spring, 2011). Leading for Diversity. InterEd: The Journal of the
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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.
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Resources
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
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