How International Field Experiences
Promote Cross-Cultural Awareness in
Preservice Teachers Through
Experiential Learning: Findings From a
Six-Year Collective Case Study
ERIC MALEWSKI
Purdue University
SUNITI SHARMA
Saint Joseph’s University
JOANN PHILLION
Purdue University
Background/Context: The article examines how international field experiences promote
cross-cultural awareness in U.S. American preservice teachers through experiential learn-
ing. The findings presented here are based on a 6-year study of a short-term study abroad
program in Honduras that included an international field experience component and took
place from 2003 to 2008.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of the Study: This article examines questions
that contribute to the field of teacher education and the effort to prepare future teachers for
culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms as early as the preservice level. Several ques-
tions guide this study: How do international field experiences prepare preservice teachers to
teach in diverse settings? How does experiential learning in an international context com-
plicate preservice teachers’ cultural knowledge? What are the pedagogical implications of
increased cultural awareness among preservice teachers for classroom practice? How do
Teachers College Record Volume 114, 080305, August 2012, 44 pages
Copyright © by Teachers College, Columbia University
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