Reimagining the Curriculum in Study Abroad: Globalizing Multiculturalism to Prepare Future Teachers

Authors

  • JoAnn Phillion
  • Erik L. Malewski
  • Suniti Sharma
  • Yuxiang Wang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v18i1.269

Keywords:

Pre-service teachers, Study abroad, Global multicultural perspective, Education abroad, Future teachers

Abstract

This article discusses research that indicates that the lived experience of studying abroad provides preservice teachers the intellectual and critical starting point for multicultural awareness of the educational, social, and political relationships between their lives and other cultures. With course work and field experiences that are grounded in multicultural life-experience, the authors argue that preservice teachers begin to develop the awareness, sensitivity, and skills they urgently need to bridge the gap between White teachers and their historically underprivileged student populations and to understand the rapidly diversifying classrooms in which they will teach. 

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Author Biographies

JoAnn Phillion

JoAnn Phillion is Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue University. She uses narrative inquiry in teaching graduate courses in curriculum theory and multicultural education, and in an undergraduate course in preservice teacher development. Her research interests are in narrative inquiry in immigrant student education, multicultural education, and teacher education. Her recent research is on minority students’ experiences in Hong Kong schools and preservice teachers’ experiences in international field placements. She is involved in teacher education in Hong Kong and directs a study abroad program in Honduras

Erik L. Malewski

Erik Malewski is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies at Purdue University. He is interested in scholarship involving critical theory, multiculturalism, cultural studies, and post-structuralism as they inform the reconceptualization of curriculum and the social contexts of education. His most recent work has focused on technology and multiculturalism within teacher education; curriculum and public policy; and the internationalization of teacher education through study abroad. He is currently working on an edited book addressing intergenerational conversations on the state-of-the-field of curriculum studies.

Suniti Sharma

Suniti Sharma is a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University where she is a research assistant for the Honduras Study Abroad program at Purdue University. She received her Masters of Arts from the University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. Prior to her current position she was an English Instructor at a detention facility for young women. In India she taught English literature and language at the high school level. Her research interests are in study abroad, multicultural education, and mentoring young women in conflict with the law.

Yuxiang Wang

Yuxiang Wang is a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University, where he is a teaching assistant in an undergraduate teacher education course and research assistant for the Honduras Study Abroad program. He received his Masters of Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a substitute teacher in California. Prior to coming to the United States he was on the faculty of Anhui University, China, where he conducted research in the area of language and culture and published on this work. His research interests are in study abroad and multiculturalism and multicultural education in China and the U.S. with a particular focus on issues of race, gender, ethnic conflicts, immigration, and minority cultures and home languages.

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Published

2009-08-15

How to Cite

Phillion, J., Malewski, E. L., Sharma, S., & Wang, Y. (2009). Reimagining the Curriculum in Study Abroad: Globalizing Multiculturalism to Prepare Future Teachers. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 18(1), 323–339. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v18i1.269

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2009): Volume 18, Fall 2009

Section

Research Articles