During this session, the panelists will offer their unique perspectives on the obstacles and mediation necessary to develop a culturally responsive teacher education program abroad that positively impacts U.S. teacher candidates as well as Italian teachers and their primary students. Using examples from their experience developing a teacher education program with EFL teaching field experience, the panelists will lead participants in discussions focused on addressing the curriculum needs of students and U.S. institutions, the community needs of the host culture, and the strategies necessary to work effectively with the host. Dialogue with participants will be framed around approaches for curriculum alignment and for developing and maintaining mutually beneficial community partnerships.

1. Education Goes International: Partnering
Abroad to Build Teacher Education Programs
Laura Hauerwas, Joanne Maddux Meaghan Creamer
Providence College Fairfield University, Florence Providence College

2. Outline of Presentation
2
▪ The International Teacher Education Partnership
Fairfield University and Providence College
Fairfield in Florence and Florence Primary Schools
▪ Development of the Program over 5+ years
Curriculum alignment
Mutually beneficial partnerships with host community
▪ Research: Impact of the Program on the Host Community
▪ Strategies to Sustain Partnership Programs

3. International Teacher Education
Partnership
Fairfield University and Providence College
Fairfield in Florence and Florence Primary Schools

4. Questions for Audience
4
1. What is your experience with field based partnerships?
2. What is your experience with custom programs
aligned with specific curricular needs?
3. What what you like to take away from this session?

5. Development of the Program
over 5+ years
Curriculum Alignment
Mutually beneficial partnerships with host community

6. Program Development and Evolution
6
1. Curriculum Alignment with Teacher
Education Program
a. Practicum Requirements
b. Literacy Class
c. Cross-Cultural Class
d. Intern Assessment
2. Mutually beneficial partnerships with
schools
a. EFL curriculum
b. Scheduling
c. Teacher Professional
Development

7. Research
What is the impact of the teacher
education program on the host
community?
Abroad students and
program staff must act
“as committed global
citizens to ensure that
we are carrying out our
work in a way that is
responsible to all parties
involved” (Stephenson,
2006).

8. Research
8
Participants
▪ Italian Cooperating Teachers
▪ Italian Primary Students who
the American interns taught EFL
Analysis Approach
▪ Inductive process to establish codes
and findings
▪ Validity of data: memos, member
checks, discussions of meaning
Data Collection
▪ Cooperating Teacher Interviews
▪ Student Questionnaires
▪ Classroom Observations
▪ Program and Meeting Notes
from 2012-2015

9. Italian Primary Students
9
Data revealed impact in three areas:
▪ Communication skills
▪ Global awareness
▪ Reflective understanding

10. Italian Primary Students: Finding One
10
Italian Students
“In reality I haven’t learned many words from our
American teacher, but how to make sentences (which to
me is more important).”
“She helped me a lot with the pronunciation, since her
pronunciation was very American.”
“I learned how to make sentences and to pronounce
correctly…”
Cooperating Teachers
Highlighted the importance of hearing
and interacting with “mother tongue speakers” to the
students’ English language development
Enhanced English Communication
Skills

11. Italian Primary Students: Finding Two
11
Italian Students
“My American teacher helped me discover the world”
“That my lifestyle is different compared to others and that
Europe is not the only place in the world”
“I’ve learned that many different realities exist and now I
know that when I grow up I want to see these different
realities”
Cooperating Teachers
“students have to challenge themselves to speak the
language of the American interns in order to create a
relationship”.
Developed an Awareness of the Global World

12. Italian Primary Students: Finding Three
12
Italian Students
“I learned very well when she taught me interrogative
pronouns with a scavenger hunt”
“I’ve learned really well her lessons when she used to call us
at the blackboard and when she let us explain our work
after being divided into groups.”
Built Reflective Understanding of Learning

13. Cooperating Teachers
13
Data revealed impact in three areas:
▪ participation in the classroom
▪ educational practices
▪ global education partnership

14. Cooperating Teacher: Finding One
14
Participation structures in
the classroom changed to
support learning
Observations while interns were teaching EFL:
▪ CTs translated the interns’ English
instructions to Italian for their students
▪ CTs confirmed with the intern their
expectations for activities
▪ CTs clarified their understanding of different
English words and constructions with interns
“At the beginning the mentoring teacher’s task
during teaching was to serve as a sort of filter to
support and check if the communication was
passing… As the experience progressed, this role
lessened to the point that I simply walked around
the classroom, observed and supported students
with problems and disabilities.”

15. 15
Cooperating Teacher: Finding Two
Learned about and responded to
cultural variations in educational
practices
Approaches to EFL Teaching
Teacher Evaluation

16. Cooperating Teacher: Finding Three
16
Strengthened commitment to partnership
and global education
“a gift to our school”
“global collaboration”
“we say [to parents] these interns don’t come here to speak in
general, but they do a perfect lesson.. happy to see this serious
work.”
“valuable to us... globalizing curriculum”

17. Reciprocal Benefits of the Program on the Host Community
17
Tangible Benefits
▪ Provided CTs and students access to an American who could model English and
teach them about America
Capacity Building
▪ Built both interns’ and CTs’ capacity as teachers, and the students’ capacity as
reflective learners
Intercultural Understanding
▪ Strengthened commitment to global awareness through relationships built with
partners.

18. Strategies to Sustain Partnership
Programs

19. Strategies to Sustain Partnerships- University to University
19
▪ Identify key actors to develop and
sustain partnership.
▪ Consider forming a committee with
diverse representation for program
development.
▪ Formalize agreement; establish
learning objective and timeline for
growth and development.

20. Strategies to Sustain Partnerships- Study Abroad Program & Local Community
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▪ Identify criteria for host institution
partnership.
▪ Consider building on pre-existing
relationships.
▪ Develop a selection and vetting process
for cooperating teachers.

21. Strategies to Sustain Partnerships- University and Local Community
21
▪ Select a cultural mediator for communication
between host partner and university.
▪ Develop a process for delivering feedback and
assessment of pre-service teachers.
▪ Ensure that the cooperating teachers have
opportunities for cultural reflection and
learning about cultural variations in education
practices.

22. 1) Faculty and Study Abroad Professionals: Key Players
2) Community Partnership: Establishing Common Goals
3) Teacher Interns: Dissonance in Italian Classroom
4) Administration: Sustainability

23. THANK
YOU