The impact of international educational exchange and training programs on teachers' curricular and pedagogical practices: Participant perspectives

Anatoli Rapoport, Purdue University

Abstract

International exchange and training programs play a significant role in the development of international cooperation between educators from different nations. More and more teachers and school administrators participate in exchange programs and implement new curricular and instructional practices in their institutions. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of international exchange and training programs on pedagogical practices of their participants and to find out how participants of international programs implement, institutionalize, transfer, share and sustain the experiences, skills and knowledge that they obtain during their programs. In the course of interpretive phenomenological case study 31 interviews with international program participants from the United States and Russia and materials from several international program debriefing sessions were collected and analyzed. The study demonstrated that the participation in international programs in various capacities significantly impacts educators' pedagogical practices, expands the range of their instructional approaches, makes program alumni more culturally sensitive and perceptive, and enables them to emphasize in their practices multiple perspectives and multiple loyalties. The study also illuminated the influence of the participation in international programs on alumni's interpersonal relations in schools, their professional growth and social status. The research resulted in practical advice to program participants, developers and organizers how to make international exchange and training programs for educators more efficient, practice oriented, and sustainable.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Nelson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Curricula|Teaching|Bilingual education|Multicultural education|Social studies education|Teacher education

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