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ERIC Number: EJ914928
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 14
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0737-5328
EISSN: N/A
Reflections from an International Immersion Trip: New Possibilities to Institutionalize Curriculum
Rodriguez, Encarna
Teacher Education Quarterly, v38 n1 p147-160 Win 2011
One of the main challenges confronted by higher education in the 21st century is to internationalize its programs and to make students more globally competent. This challenge is not new, but it has become increasingly complex. Gutek (1993) explains how the efforts to internationalize the university in the United States became particularly important in the second part of the 20th century. The purpose of this article is to further support the need to internationalize the undergraduate curriculum in teacher education programs by explaining some of the curricular issues identified in an education course with a study tour component to Bolivia. As many other courses involving an immersion experience, this class was developed as an effort to bring an international perspective to our program by providing preservice teachers with more opportunities to experience realities outside their own. Organized mainly around visits to schools in Bolivia, students' evaluations and comments indicated that this course has contributed, in very significant ways, to their understanding of the world, of themselves, and of teaching. Based on these experiences and reflections, this article identifies some of the issues that could help educators to rethink the curriculum in their teacher education programs to aid their students in the development of a stronger sensitivity and knowledge toward global and local realities. Aware that only a very limited number of students have access to immersion trips abroad, the author argues that courses that include these experiential international components offer a unique perspective from which to rethink their curriculum and its value in preparing globally competent teachers.
Caddo Gap Press. 3145 Geary Boulevard PMB 275, San Francisco, CA 94118. Tel: 415-666-3012; Fax: 415-666-3552; e-mail: caddogap@aol.com; Web site: http://www.caddogap.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bolivia; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A