Repositioning teacher identities: beyond binaries of Self and Other
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Repositioning teacher identities: beyond binaries of Self and Other Rod Neilsen1 · Michiko Weinmann1 Received: 23 July 2019 / Accepted: 27 November 2019 © The Australian Association for Research in Education, Inc. 2019
Abstract This paper reports on a study that investigated Australian pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) experiences in mobility programs undertaken in Santiago, Chile. Through the methodological lens of sense-making, our analysis aims to further current understandings of international teaching practicums and to examine how discursively (re) produced binary categories of cultural Self and Other continue to shape intercultural encounters. Our research suggests that there is a need to support PSTs in finding new ways to engage more deeply with the complexity of their experiences overseas, and their expanding sense of identity. This complexity might be explored further through a more critical interrogation of neo-colonial discourses that continue to frame the objectives of global mobility programs. The paper concludes by arguing that a conscious disruption of such inherent discourses is key in ensuring that international teaching practicums actually provide the transformative shifts in personal and professional experiences they are intended to generate. Keywords Teacher education · Student mobility · Intercultural awareness · Identity · Sense-making · Neo-colonialism · Chile
Transnational mobility in teacher education The increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of contemporary schooling poses a challenge to teacher educators when preparing student teachers in our globalised era (Villegas 2008). Many Australian universities now define global citizenship as a core graduate learning outcome; global mobility programs such as study tours, internships and overseas teaching practicums are perceived to enhance a global mindset and intercultural awareness, and opportunities for participation in such * Rod Neilsen [email protected] Michiko Weinmann [email protected] 1
Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
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programs are increasingly being integrated into teacher education courses. Such programs are seen to address the requirement for the development of intercultural skills and global citizenship. However, equipping (pre-service) teachers to teach for diversity, equity, multiculturalism and social justice requires a complex recognition of multiple realities with a range of interconnections “across identity, power, and experience that lead to consciousness of other perspectives” (Merryfield 2000, p. 440). Much research has investigated the impact of international field experiences on PSTs’ identities (Block 2007; Ellwood 2011), and has shown the effects on transnational competencies (Kinginger 2013; Porsch and Lüling 2017). Research in this area has nevertheless lacked deeper engagement with neo-colonial perspectives underpinning international education (Chen 2010; Motha 2014; Zemach-Bersin 2007). It has been argued that although there a
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