Transformation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Teacher Candidates in an International Student Teaching Program

Abstract

This case study addressed effects of international student teaching on U.S. teacher candidates’ cross-cultural adaptability and perspectives on language, culture, and schooling. Interviews and the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory were collected from 18 participants before and after 4 weeks student teaching internationally. Interviews were coded using the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory dimensions and interpreted using Mezirow’s transformational learning theory. Findings suggested that increased cross-cultural adaptation aligns with transformational learning. Transformational learning led participants to question assumptions and consider incorporating different perspectives in future teaching.

Assessing transformative learning in international education: Critiques and new directions based on a systematic review of literature

“…For the decades of the early development of transformative learning (TL) theory in adult education, Mezirow (1991, 2000) was the generative scholar working to illuminate what TL is and how it occurs. More recently, we find applications of TL in a number of disciplines and contexts, including higher education (for example, Iseminger et al., 2020; Ritz, 2010), teacher training (for example, King et al., 2022; Qin & Yuwei, 2015; Ye & Edwards, 2018), and international education (IE) (for example, Intollube‐Chmil et, al., 2012; Stone et al., 2017; Wiley et al., 2021). Despite being still largely dependent on Mezirow's foundational work, this range of applications has resulted in quite a variety of operationalizations of TL theory.…”