Exploring the affective and professional journey of teaching abroad

This qualitative study of elementary pre-service teachers explores their professional and affective experiences in a teach abroad program. Data were collected with seven participants who were in their last semester of their teacher education program. For eight weeks, the participants taught in Lyon, France. Data sources included semi-structured interviews, researcher’s journal, seminar reflections, and focus groups. Consistent with previous literature, the analysis of the data determined that teach abroad programs yield positive results such as increased confidence, adaptability, and cultural understanding. The study aimed to explore how participants arrived at these positive results and how they engaged in their new environment. Through an ethnographic lens, the teach abroad program is documented. Four case studies explore how individuals from the same teacher education program navigated professional challenges in a new context. While there are benefits of teach abroad programs, the journey can be turbulent for preservice teachers as they adjust to a new professional context. Moreover, the participants experienced professional cultural shock, which was eased when professional training and seminars were provided. The role of previous professional teaching and schooling experiences impacted the way participants adapted to their teaching context. Implications for how teach abroad programs can support students in international placements include collaboration between host teachers and the preservice teachers, targeted professional development, and alignment with a pedagogical assessment framework.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Minniear, Jacob Neal

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCarthey, Sarah J
• Thorstensson Davila, Liv
• Prendergast , Catherine
• Witt , Mary Allison

• study abroad
• teach abroad
• affect
• case studies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Jacob Minniear

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117522

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F117522