Search results for: International education

This article reports the perceived learning of a group of Chinese teacher candidates who audited an ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) literacy course while participating in an exchange programme between Southwest University in China and the University of Windsor in Canada. Data were collected through 1) reflective notes written by visiting students and 2) semi-structured interviews conducted with them towards the end of their visit. The majority of participants stated that the learning experience helped them to realise the important role theory plays in the learning of ICT and to seek ideas of how to creatively integrate ICT in their future classrooms. Participants with limited ICT knowledge and skills reported that by being exposed to various functions of frequently used programmes and many free software programmes, they felt more confident in using ICT in their own teaching. Furthermore, those with strong ICT backgrounds found that the course helped them to understand the relationship among ICT, society, and pedagogy. The teacher candidates’ perceived learning included aspects of culture and pedagogy in addition to ICT knowledge and skills. Coming to know in ways like this is critically important to international partnerships and foundational to reciprocal learning where each learns from the other.

The aim of the study was to explore the motives underpinning career mobility, and the impact of such mobility on changing the perceptions of senior teacher educators from Israel who have experienced cross-cultural professional transitions during the mid-career stage. A thematic analysis of five interviewees’ retrospective narratives highlighted three motives driving career mobility: the opportunity for professional development; the joy of adventure and challenge; and the need to bring about a fundamental change in their careers. In addition, two categories of changes in perceptions that occurred following international mobility were mapped: (a) pluralistic perceptions in a multicultural higher education environment, and (b) culture of learning among the younger generation. The discussion raises similarities and differences between the findings and the literature on career mobility in higher education.

This study aims to examine Turkish pre-service teachers’ experiences related to a two-month international teaching and cultural experience in United States. The findings revealed that pre-service teachers perceived the international teaching experience helped them develop professionally and personally.In this programme, the participants had a chance to observe student-centred teaching approaches and collaborative/cooperative learning strategies while observing their mentor teachers. Later, the participants were able to teach lessons that were observed by their mentors. The opportunity to practice in US helped the participants to improve their teaching confidence and skills during the internship.

This paper begins with a brief overview of the relationship between globalisation and the internationalisation of higher education. This serves as a backdrop for the focus of the article, which is the internationalisation of teacher education. This comparative case study demonstrates how different globalising processes influence various forms of internationalisation. Comparison also sheds light on the importance of attending not only to broader, global processes, but specific, local contextual factors.