“I’m Here as a Guest in Your System”: Exploring the Complexities of Local Faculty Teaching Visiting U.S. Students in Study Abroad Contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v37i1.996Keywords:
Culturally responsive teaching, education abroad, faculty roles, host community, pedagogyAbstract
As primary architects of the ‘global classroom,’ local faculty who teach visiting U.S. students at study abroad centers across Europe play a critical role in the study abroad experience. This article draws on theories of commodification in study abroad as well as transformative learning theory to unpack how and why local faculty bend to the U.S. higher education system in their work. Drawing on interviews with eight local faculty teaching at four different study abroad centers in Florence, Italy, the article explores what motivates Italian PhD-holders to teach in study abroad centers and to deal with the precarity of securing that work. The article also explores classroom-based challenges related to cultural differences and student expectations, as well as the methods local faculty employ to overcome them. The article concludes with a discussion of how market-driven priorities in study abroad interact with pedagogical decisions in ways that undercut the best ambitions of international education.
Abstract in Italian
In qualità di protagonisti principali della cosiddetta “classe globale” (“global classroom”), i docenti locali che si rapportano con gli studenti statunitensi presso i centri accademici esteri sparsi in tutta Europa svolgono un ruolo cruciale nei programmi di studio all'estero. Questo articolo fa uso delle “Theories of Commodification in Study Abroad” e “Transformative Learning Theory” per analizzare come e perché i docenti locali sembrino adattarsi al Sistema accademico statunitense nello svolgimento del loro lavoro. Basandosi su otto interviste a docent locali attivi in quattro diversi centri accademici esteri a Firenze, Italia, questo articolo esplora le motivazioni che inducono i Dottori di Ricerca italiani a insegnare in tali contesti e ad affrontare la precarietà lavorativa connessa a tali posizioni. Inoltre, vengono indagate le sfide derivanti dale differenze culturali e dalle aspettative degli studenti, nonché le strategie adottate dai docenti per superarle. L’articolo si conclude con una discussione su come le priorità dei programmi di studio all'estero, guidate dalle logiche di mercato, influenzino le decisioni didattiche fino a compromettere le ambizioni di eccellenza nell’educazione internazionale.
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