Learning to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students through cross-cultural experiences

New immigrants. An incentive for intercultural education?

“…In addition to these pedagogical strategies, the teachers noted the impact of the discomfort they experienced in having to learn from a scientific book written in English, which is a foreign language to them. This experience increased their sensitivity to the exclusive practice of language teaching in their classes (cf Savva, 2017). Programming relevant experiences of discomfort could be used as a fifth pedagogical strategy to teachers intercultural professional development.…”

Global teachers as global learners: Intercultural teacher training in international settings

“…Within the context of the iPGCE programme, Gay's (2002) deinition therefore refers to both the environment the teachers work in and the environment the programme adopts as a whole, with the usefulness of the latter in developing the former being the focus of this article. Much of the literature in the ield originates from diverse classrooms in speciic national contexts and comparative education approaches (see, for example, Banks, 2017;Darling-Hammond and Lieberman, 2012), with the international schooling context providing a growing ield (see, for example, Savva, 2017;Savva and Stanield, 2018). The data and literature in this article make reference to intercultural and multicultural awareness, competence and education, in each case taking the original term from data and the literature.…”

“…It is here that differences between multicultural awareness and intercultural education come to the fore, since a simple nod to, or knowledge of, diverse cultures will not address these needs. Yang and Montgomery (2013) argue that theoretical knowledge and practical integration of that knowledge may not be the same, a position further explored by Savva (2017) in her work with Anglophone teachers working in overseas contexts. While Savva (2017) focuses her study on teachers both born and raised in Anglophone countries, the iPGCE student body is more diverse, opening opportunities for intercultural education as part of the programme design.…”

“…Teacher training in international schools Pohan (1996: 67) states that teacher training programmes need to address teachers' beliefs surrounding diversity, otherwise 'it is unlikely that schools will ever meet the challenge of equity and excellence for all students'. Questions around what teacher education should encompass differ between national contexts (Darling-Hammond and Lieberman, 2012) and the concept of intercultural education is discussed in national (see, for example, Banks, 2017) and international contexts alike (Savva, 2017). Any programme aimed at globally mobile teachers will, therefore, need to help teachers examine and relect on their values, and how these relate to their professional context.…”

“…Participant 5 acknowledged that language acquisition during formal education was valued and combined with exchange programmes, forming the basis of personal intercultural education. Participant 3 was raised in a country that has 12 oficial languages, and regards language as instrumental to intercultural competence; a view echoed by Participant 2, who views 'languages [as] the basis for being interculturally educated' (Participant 2, narrative), in line with points about the importance of language made by Savva (2017). These participants incorporate their linguistic skills in their teaching.…”