A poststructural analysis of study abroad as teacher preparation pedagogy: Thinking through theory for generative practice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholarship in teacher education reflects study abroad as established pedagogy and part of ‘best practices’ in preparing K-12 teachers for diverse classrooms. Three discourses dominate the literature to affirm the positive role of study abroad: (a) changing White preservice teachers’ perceptions of self and others; (b) increasing their multicultural knowledge and global-mindedness; and, (c) developing competencies for culturally responsive classroom practice. In drawing from several scholars, this article uses poststructural analysis to trouble the above discourses that articulate study abroad within normalizing conceptions of self and other, universal worldview of multicultural knowledge and global-mindedness, and fixed conceptualization of culturally responsive teaching, so that new ways of thinking about disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical practice emerge. This article recommends teacher education pedagogies include critical frames of analyses when interpreting study abroad experiences for thinking through theory for generative practice and reclaiming epistemic reflexivity in how we do research.