“I don’t even know where Turkey is.”: Developing intercultural competence through e-pal exchanges

Abstract

Using current events to help preservice teachers understand the world they live in encourages preservice teachers to learn about global issues. It also encourages them to develop skills in analytical thinking and reflective judgment by reading and discussing complex real-life scenarios. A semester-long pen-pal project was crafted to help understand how preservice teachers develop intercultural competence, critical empathy, and become less ethnocentric. Twenty-Six American early childhood preservice teachers in a Midwestern state were randomly paired with Turkish early childhood preserivce teachers as their pen-pals. The findings of this qualitative study revealed American preservice teachers had learning curves, but many eventually came to unpack their privileges and preconceived notions, as well as expend their worldviews. Implications of how to assist preservice teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students are addressed.

The inequitable consequences of school disciplinary policies on Black girls in Ohio

“…Finally, Black girls are more likely to exhibit fewer disciplinary issues in classrooms that are based on culturally responsive approaches to teaching and learning (Gay, 2018). For this reason, it is critical for teachers to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogies into their classrooms as a means of creating affirming, inclusive, and supportive educational experiences for Black girls (Gay, 2018;Lakhwani, 2019;Lin, 2018;Piquemal et al, 2019). Gay (2018) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as an approach to teaching and learning that uses social and cultural knowledge, language patterns, reference points, and ways-of-being to help students understand and acquire the formal knowledge and skills presented within school curriculum.…”

Understanding students’ global interdependence in science instruction

“…As an example of how the SGIS could be employed outside of science, preservice teacher education students in an American midwestern university studying multicultural education were placed in a penpal relationship with counterparts in a Turkish university (Lin, 2018). For 14 weeks the students exchanged information about their everyday lives in each country and the situation resulting from Syrian immigrants escaping their war-torn nation to bordering Turkey.…”

A critical inquiry into in-service EFL teachers’ intercultural self-efficacy beliefs and experiences

“…A bulk of research have been reported on teacher's intercultural language teaching beliefs (Altan, 2018;Arcagök and Yılmaz, 2020;Atay et al, 2009;Beutel and Tangen, 2018;Kaça, 2015;Çetin-Köroğlu, 2016;Çubukçu, 2013;Demircioğlu & Çakır, 2015;Ersoy, 2013;Hayden, Rancic & Thompson, 2000;Israelsson, 2016;Keranen & Bayyurt 2006;Lázár, 2011;Lin, 2018;Oranje and Smith, 2018;Polat & Ogay-Barka, 2014;Sercu, 2005Sercu, , 2006Smolcic & Arends, 2017;Türkyılmaz-Sinclair, 2019;Young and Sachdev, 2011). To start with, Beutel and Tangen (2018) researched the impact of intercultural experiences on shaping pre-service teachers' preparedness to engage with diverse students in Australia and found a positive relationship between the variables.…”