Committing to ‘Stay with the Trouble’: Theorizing Global Commitments Through Future Teachers’ Study Abroad Reflections

Authors

  • Alyssa Morley Michigan State University
  • Kasun Gajasinghe Michigan State University
  • Yetunde S. Alabede Michigan State University
  • Aliya Bizhanova Michigan State University
  • Elena Selezneva Northern Arizona University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v37i3.1015

Keywords:

Feminism, global citizenship education, global competence, study abroad, teacher education

Abstract

Study abroad programs can both extend and undermine social justice pedagogy. We examine this tension through an analysis of interviews with six future teachers from the United States who studied abroad in Ghana, Ireland, France, and Canada. We ask, how do future teachers understand the knowledge they develop from studying abroad? What absences, silences, and ignorances are sustained by these knowledges? A feminist theoretical framework attuned to how knowledge produces ignorances underpins our paper’s arguments that study abroad stimulated deep, yet delimited, critical insights for future teachers in this study. We examine how notions of Western superiority were at-once destabilized and upheld for students by international engagement. Our analysis leads us to theorize Global Commitments which enable teachers to “stay with the trouble” to examine positionalities and imagine new possibilities for education.

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Author Biographies

Alyssa Morley, Michigan State University

Alyssa Morley, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Global Education at Michigan State University. In addition to teaching pre-service teachers at MSU, she conducts research on power dynamics in global education. Specifically, her scholarship examines international aid politics, gendered productions, and the implications for the work of teachers across transnational landscapes. She has taught in public schools in Malawi and the United States and co-led a university study abroad program in Tanzania. [ORCID]

Kasun Gajasinghe, Michigan State University

Kasun Gajasinghe, Ph.D., is a recent graduate from the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education PhD program at Michigan State University. His scholarly interests revolve around curriculum theory, modernity/coloniality, language politics, migration, racial capitalism, alternative imaginaries of education, and humanities-oriented methodologies. He is a Fulbright alumnus and a recipient of the 2024–2025 Excellence in Teaching Citation from Michigan State University.

Yetunde S. Alabede, Michigan State University

Yetunde S. Alabede is a Doctoral Candidate in Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Her research is at the intersection of recognizing and supporting language and literacy practices of African and African Diasporic children and youth. She does this by highlighting their knowledge and agency as valuable assets across home, school, and community settings. Yetunde previously taught English Language Arts in public and private schools in Nigeria, remotely in the US, Canada, and the UK.

Aliya Bizhanova, Michigan State University

Aliya Bizhanova is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Education Policy program and a graduate research assistant at the College of Education. Her research interests are international and comparative education policies, teacher labor markets, and global partnerships. Her dissertation focuses on how international testing like PISA influences education policy formation and schools in Kazakhstan. Prior to joining MSU, Aliya worked at the World Bank country office in Kazakhstan, consulted the OECD and the UNICEF.

Elena Selezneva, Northern Arizona University

Elena Selezneva is the Director of Interdisciplinary Global Programs (IGP) at Northern Arizona University, where students combine degrees in STEM, Business, or Psychology with Modern Languages or Comparative Cultural Studies, including a year abroad. Elena has twenty years of experience in international education across various roles. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University, focusing on the impacts of international education on faculty and students.

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Published

2025-11-05

How to Cite

Morley, A., Gajasinghe, K., Alabede, Y., Bizhanova, A., & Selezneva, E. (2025). Committing to ‘Stay with the Trouble’: Theorizing Global Commitments Through Future Teachers’ Study Abroad Reflections. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 37(3), 250–278. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v37i3.1015

Issue

Vol. 37 No. 3 (2025): November 2025

Section

Research Articles

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